


Ethereal Dreams (of an arranged love)

by FromIdeaAndBeyond



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Historical, Arranged Marriage, CEO Kim Minseok | Xiumin, Dreaming, Dreams, EXO - Freeform, F/M, Gay Baekhyun, Gay side relationship, History, Joseon, Love, M/M, Minseok - Freeform, Reincarnation, Smut, a little gay, cheating ex, korea - Freeform, or a lot gay
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-01-28
Updated: 2018-10-14
Packaged: 2019-03-10 18:38:58
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 65,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13507473
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FromIdeaAndBeyond/pseuds/FromIdeaAndBeyond
Summary: In Joseon around the year 1400, Soheon is on the brink of becoming a real princess. She is arranged to be marrying prince Won Jeong, who is second in line to the throne. Back in South Korea in 2018 there’s Sian who has dreams of the life of Soheon and Won Jeong, but everything changes when she meets a man called Minseok who is the spitting image of Prince Won Jeong.





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Readers,
> 
>  
> 
> finally the story is taking a little bit of shape. Which means I can start sharing more than just the first chapter.
> 
> I have put a little teaser up on my Tumblr page for chapter two which will be uploaded tomorrow evening (8PM GMT).
> 
> You can find the teaser [here](https://exo-xiu-baek-chen.tumblr.com/post/170434397500/ethereal-dreams-of-an-arranged-love-teaser).
> 
> Please follow [this page](https://exo-xiu-baek-chen.tumblr.com/) for more teasers and updates about this fic.
> 
>  
> 
> Thank You <3

****

**1400 - Joseon**

It was a beautiful and warm summer afternoon in the gardens of the Gyeongbokgung. It was incredibly hot and humid, but the group of people was protected by the shadow of the little garden house where they were having lunch. Soheon looked around the table with familiar faces. She smiled duty-wise, like she has done for most of her life. Being promised to one of the grand princes from the day she turned four was the highest honour her family had ever received, and she couldn't disappoint them. This lunch was for planning the upcoming wedding, which wouldn't be for a long time since the prince demanded a spring wedding. He said he wanted to get married surrounded by cherry blossoms. Soheon couldn't care less when the wedding was or what it looked like because she didn't love the man she was about to wed. Sure, they knew each other well, having grown up together. Yet she couldn't make herself love him. Her heart was already given to someone she knew her family would never approve of. So, their love was a secret. His name was Jonghyun and he had been the stable boy of the palace for the past year and a half. Soheon didn't have much of a fascination towards horses, to be frank they scared her a little but after meeting Jonghyun on an obligatory ride with her father, she had developed a sudden interest in them and eventually has grown to love them. Jonghyun showed her how to care for the horses and how they would do anything for you once they fully trusted you. With her growing trust in the palace's horses her love for Jonghyun grew as well. She would love it when he started talking about horses and the passion in his eyes would light up and nothing seemed brighter and purer to Soheon than that. He was always polite and addressed her the way a stable boy ought to, but Soheon had caught him glancing at her more than once. One day she decided she had to be the brave one and kiss him. When everyone else had left the stables and most the work was done she pushed him against the stable door and connected their lips. Jonghyun seemed to freeze from the action at first but quickly relaxed into it and their kiss became more passionate and needy. Soheon smiled lightly at the memory. They had shared many kisses and more since then, but always in secret. They had talked about eloping but neither of them was sure enough about where to go or what to do when they left the palace. It was well known that if you left the palace grounds without the king's permission that it was seen a disloyalty towards the king, which was punishable by death.

Soheon was starting to get impatient by this lunch since every second was taking precious seconds from her time with Jonghyun. She fanned her face lazily with her brightly coloured fan. She looked up at the mention of her name and her eyes were met by her soon-to-be-husband. His name was Won Jeong and he was second in line to the throne. Soheon knew he didn't want the throne and was happy to give that task to his older brother Yi Je. All brothers in Won Jeong's family line, including Won Jeong himself, were incredibly handsome and could get any girl they wanted. However, that's sadly not how things work with royalty. A prince doesn't marry for love but is forced into a loveless marriage for strategic alliance. They are lucky if they happen to gather both, but this is very rare. Won Jeong's hazelnut coloured eyes looked into Soheon's sky-blue ones as he looked at her questioningly. 'Hm?' Soheon asked slightly embarrassed for getting distracted like that. 'We asked what colour you want the flowers to be' Won Jeong repeated, his eyes friendly and he chuckled lightly at her distracted disposition. she returned a half-smile; the poor boy must have thought she was thinking about him and the married life to him. 'I don't mind anything, just pick what you think would suit my skin' she replied sweetly almost making herself gag at the insincerity she felt saying it. Won Jeong's smile doubled in size at this reply. He loved being in charge and was an extreme perfectionist. 'I think white and a soft shade of pink will compliment your skin best, my love' it was obvious from his way of looking at her that Won Jeong had developed an actual crush on Soheon over the years of growing up together. She never really felt anything much for him apart from a slight resentment from time to time. Won Jeong was incredibly arrogant and selfish most of the time and only cared about things that were good for him or his image as a prince. He got angry at Soheon once for helping a little girl in the street collect the things she dropped because it would harm his public image as a prince. Naturally they fought after that. Won Jeong had the audacity to raise his voice at her in the middle of the street and she hasn't forgiven him for publically humiliating her yet. This lunch was dragging on and on and with every second Soheon longed to be with Jonghyun more and more. 'What is the matter, So, you look a bit pale today' her mother asked concernedly. 'I'm okay mom, just a little stomach pain' she smiled at her mother and suddenly saw a way out. 'I think this lunch has been a bit much for me, I will go and walk it off now' she announced and stood up from the table. 'I'll go with you' Won Jeong announced and prepared to leave with her. 'No really, I'm alright. You just continue arranging the wedding. We want it to be perfect, don't we?' she assured with a fake smile. Won Jeong smiled softly and nodded. Of course, he wanted the perfect wedding but most of all, he wanted to be in charge of everything, she didn't care. Soheon bowed to the rest of the guests and made her way out of the garden house and quickly made her way to the stables.

She finally allowed herself to properly breathe once she was in the stables. 'Your majesty' a familiar voice sounded through the stables though it was not the voice she expected or wanted to hear. 'Yixing, what brings you to the stables?' Yixing is one of Soheon's family servants. His mother is one of the Court Ladies at the palace and Soheon's family were 'given' Yixing to serve them, when they entered the palace. Though Soheon never thought of Yixing as their servant, but more as her friend. They basically grew up playing together and while Yixing was learning to serve the family they certainly had fun as well. He was also the only one in the entire world that knew about her relationship with Jonghyun, apart from Jonghyun and Soheon themselves, naturally. She smiled shyly still nervous about every secret meet up with Jonghyun. Yixing nodded his head in understanding 'I haven't seen him all day, maybe he's sick?' he wondered. Her smile dropped from her face, in all the time they had been together Jonghyun had never let her down without saying something. Even when he was sick he would come anyways only to be dragged back home by her and put to bed. Though their meeting wasn't officially agreed upon today, Jonghyun could usually be found roaming around the stables. It was almost as if he was waiting for Soheon to come and visit him. Her shoulders sagged, and a wave of disappointment washed over her. 'Thanks, Yixing, I'll see you later' Soheon waved lightly at Yixing who smiled and waved back before continuing sweeping the stable floor. She turned on her heels and walked towards Jonghyun's house. When she arrived, she found Jonghyun's mother clearly in distress. 'Eomma, what is the matter?' Soheon had exclaimed. It had taken Soheon the majority of the time spend with Jonghyun's mother to convince her to just call her by her name and not care about her status. If anything, Jonghyun's house was where Soheon felt most at home. Eventually his mother was persuaded but only on the condition that Soheon would call her Eomma. She was all too happy to give that to her. Soheon got down on her knees next to Eomma and comforted her by softly rubbing her back. It seemed Eomma was crying softly. 'Oh, my dear Soheon, it's Jonghyun' Soheon's eyes grew wide. What about Jonghyun, did his mother find out that their relationship was so much more than just friendship? Was he really sick? So sick he couldn't get better? All these questions roamed Soheon's mind. 'Eomma, what is the matter with Jonghyun, where is he?' she finally asked concernedly. 'They took him' she cried out and threw herself into Soheon's arms.


	2. Chapter two

**South Korea 2018**

With a loud gasp Sian sat up in bed. She just had the strangest dream, where she was about to be a princess and marry a beautiful prince, yet she loved another man, but something happened to him. She didn’t know what, but she could still feel the dread the person in her dream felt. It was like the emotions were engraved into the wiring of her body. She made her way into the bathroom and splashed cold water into her face, as if the emotions and dreams could be washed down the drain this way.  She watched as the clear water made its way to the middle of the basin. She took a deep breath and studied her features in the mirror. It was clear that the intense dream had taken away her precious sleep as dark circles coloured the area under her eyes. A glance at the clock told her that it was just before 6 AM. She still had a few hours before she had to leave for work. So, she decided to do some laundry, anything to keep her mind off those dreams. “Soheon” the name balanced on her lips. It does seem like a royal name. She emptied the clothes in the basket into the machine absentmindedly and started it. Then took the basket with wet clothes and made her way outside. She silently prayed for good weather, so her washing could just air-dry. As much as she wanted the physical labour to take her mind off the dreams it didn’t do anything to help at all. Once inside Sian grabbed her laptop and started it with a frustrated groan. ‘It’s just a dream, silly woman’ she told herself. Yet she couldn’t shake the dreadful feeling the dream left her with. She shivered a little at the thought of it. ‘They took him’ Who were they? What had happened? Why did they take this guy called Jonghyun whom Soheon seemed to love very much? Were they bad? Were they good? With another sigh Sian opened her web browser and typed ‘Won Jeong’ in the search bar. He was a prince, something must be known about him. The results only showed articles about a person who was accused of espionage and the name of an actress. She sighed and typed in the name of the girl ‘Soheon’ the first result that popped up was ‘Queen Soheon’ Sian snorted. Queen. Yeah right. The girl in her dreams would definitely not be a queen with the kind of behaviour she showed, being in love with the stable boy and all. Unless the stable boy becomes king? Nah, they should’ve been taught that in high school if that were the case. Sian sighed again and closed her laptop. It was still too early to leave but she figured she might as well get her breakfast at work. Before she left her apartment, she caught a glimpse of herself in the mirror. Her long blond hair had been tied back into a high pony tail. She was dressed in simple light blue skinny jeans, a black t-shirt with a statement quote and a soft pink jacket that she had thrown over in case the weather might change.

 

It had gotten warmer since she hung her laundry to dry. Now even the jacket seemed too stuffy and she threw it over her arm instead. She loved walking the city in summer people seemed happier, though the unruly weather indicated the upcoming change of the season. Sian had been the manager of a little coffee shop in the centre of Seoul for three years now. It had been her dream to start her own business, but she never thought coffee would be the area she would specialise in. Her shop on the high street had gotten quite popular in the last few months after one of the Idols from JYP came to get his coffee here. Now a herd of his fans crowded the shop every day in hopes of a small glimpse of their favourite idol. It was also a popular spot amongst business people as they frequently held meetings on the second floor. Sian opened the shop and quickly took the alarm off. She hit some of the lights but not all of them, just so people know that the shop isn’t open yet. Most of the breakfast items had been prepared the night before and their smell was filling the shop. Sian took a deep breath finally able to put the dream she had last night to the side. Now that her body and mind actually had a purpose it seemed easy enough to let go of the feeling of dread she felt when she woke up, her body covered in cold sweat. After her morning tea and bagel Sian prepared the shop for opening. She thought about opening early since she already saw people waiting outside the glass doors, but she needed her employees to deal with taking orders and preparing drinks. This way she could be the ideal hostess and focus on keeping all the costumers satisfied and encouraging them to leave a positive review on their website. For Sian it felt good to be busy and have something to do, a purpose. So, when the shop filled with the usual morning ruckus of people desperate to get their morning shot of their favourite coffee, Sian couldn’t help but smile at the hidden beauty of it.

 

One of her employees called out her name, it was Baekhyun. He had been with Sian since the start of the store and was also Sian’s best friend. ‘Is your head in the clouds? Someone finally caught that dreadfully critical eye of yours?’ Baekhyun joked. Sian hit him on the shoulder ‘Yah, mind your words, I am still your boss’ Sian joked back. ‘Yes, Boss’ he jokingly saluted with one hand on his forehead ‘Now that I have your attention, the phone’s been ringing for the past 5 minutes, please pick it up, it’s driving me insane’ Baekhyun addressed. Sian hadn’t even realised but now that she paid attention the phone was ringing indeed, Sian quickly made her way to the back and picked up the phone. ‘Sian’s Coffee Corner, Sian Speaking’ she answered the phone. It was from a company just around the corner. They wanted to place a big order for one of their meetings today and give us a heads up on what they wanted to order.

 

After writing down all the different types of coffee and snacks Sian ended the conversation. She sighed heavily when she put the phone down. 50 different coffees and snacks. How are they going to prepare this without neglecting any of the other customers? Sian settled her hands on her forehead and let out a low frustrated groan. At that exact moment Baekhyun walked into the back area. ‘Well nice seeing you too’ he whined pulling a pouty face that was too adorable to be good for anyone. ‘It wasn’t at you Baek’ Sian sighed going over the order list again to see if she needed to purchase any extra produce for this order. Baekhyun came to stand behind her and started massaging her shoulders ‘You look tense, boo, what’s up?’ He mused his voice soft and velvety smooth. Sian groaned at the touch welcoming the slight release of tension she felt while Baekhyun’s slender hands worked their magic. ‘We have an order from a big company for this afternoon, and it’s a big one. To get the quality we usually serve here we might have to close the store for an hour or so to complete this’ Baekhyun grimaced, closing the store before the official closing time was quite the hassle and could potentially lead to some very unhappy customers. ‘How many’ Baekhyun asked curtly ‘Fifty’ his eyes grew a little wider in shock. It’s not that they only needed happy customers, it is true that you can’t please everyone. It’s just that usually the ones that drop by occasionally and are disappointed because their own expectations were too high, are also usually the ones that complain the loudest and give mean reviews. Sian had worked really hard over the past years to get the shop up to the standard it is today. This time it was Baekhyun who let out a frustrated sigh. ‘Let’s be smart about this Si, we can do this. When does it have to be ready?’ Sian looked up at Baekhyun thankful for his positive view of the world. ‘They will come and pick it up at four’ Baekhyun looked at his watch and nodded. ‘I will put a notice on the board and the door right away saying we will close temporarily from three till four. And I will upload this on our social media pages, that means the customers know three hours in advance, that should be enough. and that way we have an hour to prepare all the drinks and snacks’ he nodded proud of his own solution. As much as Sian disliked closing the shop Baekhyun was right to make that call. Fifty drinks and snacks in an hour including making drinks for our customers would have been impossible. Sian looked at her friend. He had been the first one to apply for a job at her coffee shop when it was about to open, and they had hit it off straight away. It was as if they were soul mates who were meant to befriend each other. Baekhyun’s boyfriend was a regular at the café. It was how the two had met although Baekhyun took a full year to realise that Kyungsoo was there especially for him and that he didn’t really like coffee all that much. It had been adorable to see their relationship grow over the years. Sian knew all too well that Kyungsoo was the reason that Baekhyun was always on time. Sian loved Baekhyun a lot, but he was frequently late. ‘Thank you Baek, I wouldn’t know what to do without you’ Sian grinned ‘And don’t you forget it!’ Baekhyun replied giving her a cheeky wink before going back into the shop.

 

Time went by incredibly quick that day and before Sian had fully realised Baekhyun nudged her to close the store. ‘I’m sorry everyone but we’re going to have to close the store for a little while. I’m very sorry for the inconvenience here’s a coupon for a free drink next time you come around’ Sian repeated the phrase until all the customers had left and she was out of coupons. Baekhyun was grinning widely behind the counter making the temporary employees look at her in confusion. ‘What’s so funny Baekhyun?’ she asked ‘Nothing much, I just like a challenge’ he stated as he rubbed his hands together in anticipation. ‘Let’s get this thing started then’ Sian conceded. They had divided the work evenly, so people wouldn’t get in each other’s way. Baekhyun and Sian were in charge of the beverages and the two temporary employees were responsible for the snacks. Just before the clock about the counter struck four they finished the job, making sure all snacks were labelled and bagged and the drinks were also labelled and then plated. A good-looking man in a black designer suit was standing in front of the door nudging it before he realised it was closed. Sian rushed to let the man in ‘I’m so sorry, we closed the store to get you your order. We’ve just finished’ the man simply nodded and gestured towards four young boys around the age of 16 to join him. They were also wearing black designer suits, but they seemed out of place on their fragile looking bodies. The boys went inside to carry the bags and plates and the man paid without saying a word. Just before he left the man spoke directly at Sian. ‘We have a big order for you again tomorrow, but we would like you to deliver this if that’s possible?’ the sentence was phrased as a question, but it certainly felt more like an order. Sian nodded a bit dumbfounded by the request. She never had to deliver something before. The man passed her a white folded paper. ‘These are the orders and the address, floor and room it needs to be delivered to’ the man continued pointing at the folded paper. ‘Okay’ Sian blurted out meekly. With that the man and his helpers disappeared from the building. Leaving behind an empty shop. ‘Gosh, he had quite the stick up his arse, didn’t he?’ Baekhyun commented dryly which made Sian burst into nervous laughter. ‘Yeah he did’ she commented and opened the paper. ‘A HUNDRED DRINKS AND SNACKS?’ she shouted through the café. Silently thanking the gods, she didn’t really believe in, that there were no customers back in yet. Baekhyun placed a hand on her shoulder and sat her down on one of the barstools. ‘We’ll be alright Si. I’ll watch the shop while you go out to deliver, we’ll hire extra staff for the day, so we won’t have to close the store. It’ll be alright’ Sian looked up at Baekhyun’s dark brown eyes and nodded slightly. She was thankful to have a friend like him working with her, knowing exactly what to do and say to calm her anxiety. She spent the rest of the day preparing the snacks for next day’s delivery. She silently cursed whoever placed such a ridiculous order.

 

When they closed the store, Baekhyun insisted on sharing a drink at Sian’s home before calling it a night. Sian smiled and accepted the request. Over a glass of wine, they’d speculate who would’ve placed such a large order at such a small store and talked about how to go about the delivery. They managed to hire a cart that Sian could bring to place all the items on. Sian had wondered often that day if she should tell Baekhyun about the dream she had. It seemed insignificant to talk about something as trivial as a dream, but she still felt haunted by the feeling it had given her and she needed something, or someone to stabilise her. To tell her that she wasn’t weird and that it was just a dream. She closed her eyes and sighed before spilling the full story to Baekhyun. His eyes grew wider with every sentence. ‘Woah, you have cool dreams. I wish I had those. I usually just dream about Soo getting angry because I didn’t do some chore he set me up with again’ Baekhyun grimaced at the thought of his own dreams ‘Although I think that would be classified as a nightmare then’ he continued a light chuckle shaking his shoulders. ‘I’m weird right? For being so affected by a stupid dream’ Sian carefully muttered not really wanting Baekhyun to answer that question. ‘You’re definitely weird, but not for being affected by dreams’ Baekhyun smiled placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder. ‘I will see you in the morning, Kyungsoo will murder me if I don’t go home now’ Baekhyun joked and kissed Sian’s cheek lightly. Sian heaved a sigh and nodded towards the honey blond boy smiling empathetically. She nudged her head towards the door to encourage him to go. A silence filled the house when Baekhyun closed the door behind him. Sian sighed again and went to bed not bothering to wash the dishes. The cool white sheets enveloped her body and Sian lay in silence staring at the ceiling watching every well-known imperfection on it. She didn’t dare close her eyes, afraid the dream might return to haunt her. It seemed so silly that Sian smiled a little to herself, yet she kept her eyes open. Until the comfort of slumber took over and dragged her into a restless sleep.

 

The warmth of sunlight on her face woke Sian up and she breathed a sigh of relief. No dreams. That meant that the other dream was probably just a stupid coincidence and she could continue to live peacefully, though her mind stayed curious as to what might have happened to Jonghyun. She got herself up from bed and ready for work since today was going to be a busy day with the gigantic delivery. When she approached the café Baekhyun was already standing there surrounded by five girls. It was funny how popular Baekhyun was amongst girls when the fact that he was gay was as clear as day to Sian. She realised the day they met that he was attracted to guys, not that it really mattered anyways but seeing these teenage girls surround him like that made her reminisce on those early days. He had blatantly asked her why she wasn’t making any advances towards him and she had let out an audible laugh. He might have been ‘only’ gay, but he was hyper aware of how desired he was by both men and women. She told him straight away that she thought he was gay and he seemed surprised by that answer. ‘You are the first one to notice right away without me dropping hints or telling you’ he had spoken a light hint of admiration in his voice. Sian knew that they would get along right away and hired him without really asking questions. Baekhyun noticed her approaching and his face light up. ‘Sian, Look, I’ve found little helpers to help us with the prep for the delivery’ he looked immensely proud of himself and Sian couldn’t help but be slightly impressed by this as well. 

 

The girls Baekhyun brought along weren’t half as bad as Sian expected them to be. They worked neatly and followed her every order gladly and with smiles on their faces. If she had the vacancies she might have actually hired them to work for her permanently. While the girls were happily working away on the gigantic order Sian took Baekhyun apart. ‘Baek, what did you promise them?’ she asked slightly worried about the little white lies Baekhyun might have told them to persuade them. ‘Nothing really, I told them I’d give them my number and that was enough’ he rubbed the back of his neck in slight guilt. Sian rolled her eyes at his answer ‘Baek, you know they now think they stand a chance with you. They don’t even know you’re gay’ Baekhyun smiled apologetically. Sian sighed audibly ‘Even though I don’t condone this type of behaviour’ she started gesturing towards Baekhyun ‘I am glad that they are here to help, and they’re quite decent workers at that, so, thank you’ Baekhyun’s face light up like a Christmas tree ‘They’re good, aren’t they? Just remember this when you’re scouting for new employees’ he joked, and Sian punched his shoulder lightly.

 

Once all the drinks and snacks were safely stored into the company car Sian made her way towards the address given. It was only a five-minute drive, but she drove extra carefully making sure not to spill any of the drinks. When she arrived, she was met with someone to help her carry the drinks and snacks. It was a friendly looking boy about the same age as the ones that came to pick up the order yesterday and he worked very diligently. They made their way up to the ninth floor, as instructed. It was quite easy to find the conference room as it was the only room that was enveloped by sound. The sound of chatter died down a little as soon as the boy knocked on the door. They entered the room and Sian bowed dutifully to the people in the room. It seemed to be a big meeting as all hundred people were seated around a large squared table that filled the room. In the middle of the room there was a 3D projector showing the contents of the meeting. Sian’s eyes scanned the room for the best place to put the coffee and snacks when her eyes met the person’s eyes giving the presentation in the front. Her stomach made a somersault and the beat of her heart tripled. That man she saw. He was…. He looked like… Won Jeong… exactly like him. His eyes, the shape of his nose, his lips. Sian felt frozen to the ground until the man beckoned her over and she moved as if hypnotised by him. ‘it is considered impolite to stare’ the man joked smiling a dazzling smile when she was close enough to hear him. With that Sian was able to break her trance and avert her gaze. She muttered an apology and continued to empty the contents of the cart onto a large table on the side. When she had emptied the cart, Sian made her way to leave the room. She was stopped by someone calling out her name. She didn’t remember giving a name when she entered so she turned in confusion. She was met with the face of a man who enticed a lot of anger in her. ‘Eunhyuk, what do you want’ she huffed angrily. ’Hey, babe, don’t be like that here in front of all my co-workers’ he beamed an aura of fake sincerity clouding his words. ‘I don’t care’ Sian mumbled, and she turned around to leave. She made it half way through the hall when someone grabbed her wrist. She knew without looking it was Eunhyuk and she couldn’t stop the feeling of hatred filling her chest.

 

She had loved him once. She might have even said that he was the one for her. Once. Until he started to fool around with his secretary and thought it would be a good idea to have sex with her in their bed. Sian had come home early from work as it was a quiet afternoon and Baekhyun had insisted she take some rest. Eunhyuk usually brought people over from work to discuss business in a more ‘relaxed’ environment, as he would phrase it. Yet she knew that something was different this time. Maybe it was the messiness of their coats being on the floor at the door. Maybe it was the different items of clothing scattered around the apartment, paining a trail towards the bedroom. Maybe it had been the muffled moans and groans from the bedroom, but it was certainly the sight of her long-term boyfriend, the man whom she loved dearly, butt naked in their bed pounding into his secretary while moaning her name, that made her create this hatred towards him. He spun her around forcing her to look at him. Sian could feel the tears sting in the back of her throat. It had only been a few months since she had kicked him out, throwing all his stuff off the balcony. As much as she hated him for cheating on her she also still loved him, because that was what she had done for years. He put his hands on her shoulders and lightly shook her. ‘it’s good to see you. I’ve missed you babe, we should meet up again’ his voice was velvety smooth and laced with fake affection, but Sian couldn’t help but nod at his request. She hated that he still had this effect on her. She hated that she couldn’t help but nod at his request like a lost puppy that had just found its owner again. She hated that the way he smiled still made her heart flutter. He softly grabbed her face into his hands and moved his own face towards her. Sian couldn’t move, it was as if she was nailed to the floor and paralysed. She let her ex-boyfriend kiss her, silently praying for it to be over before the tears started to spill. He finally let her go and Sian realised that she was grasping the cart so tightly that her knuckles had turned white. ‘I…I have to get back to work’ she finally managed to get out. ‘Sure babe, I’ll call you’ and with that he turned on his heels and entered the conference room again. Sian quickly made her way out of the building and gasped for air when she was outside. Tears were still stinging her eyes, but she refused to let them spill. She texted Baekhyun saying she wasn’t feeling well and was going home for a while, asking if he would be okay managing the shop for the rest of the day. He replied that it was okay and continued to ask what had happened, but Sian chose to ignore that and go straight home. Once she was home she got into some comfortable clothes and made herself a cup of tea before lounging on the couch. By now the tears had been replaced by an intense sensation of hatred towards her ex-boyfriend. How dare he kiss her like that, in public. How dare he call her babe. Sian sighed suddenly aware of how tired the whole ordeal had made her and she let herself drift off to sleep on the sofa.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was a very long chapter. The next chapters will probably not be as long as this one but I needed this to set the story.


	3. Chapter Three

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is some smut in this chapter

**Joseon 1400**

Warm salty tears made their way down her face. Soheon would usually try to keep her composure when attending anything publically but standing at Jonghyun’s grave had made everything so painfully real. His mother had begged the king to give him a respectful burial within the palace walls, but the king refused so his grave was just outside the palace walls. It was forbidden for Soheon to be here, to be outside the walls, but she had to see him. Her bottom lip trembled in anticipation of a new wave of emotions. She finally doubled over clutching at her chest. She never fully realised how much physical pain came with grieving. It felt like someone was carefully carving her heart out ripping at the flesh with every new wave of tears. Like a flower carefully being stripped of all her petals. One by one. Yet her supply of petals seemed endless because the pain never stopped. Her knees finally gave in and she caved to the ground, still grasping her chest as if she had to hold her own heart together. She missed him, so much, but missing him wasn’t the worst thing. The worst thing was the fact that she had to pretend that Jonghyun hadn’t been her whole world. She had to pretend that she barely knew him where her heart felt like it had been ripped out and had gone with him to whatever was to come after life. She was about to get married to a man she did not love, and she had to pretend to be happy about the upcoming wedding. Now that she was alone outside those walls she couldn’t contain it any longer. Tears streamed down her face and quiet sobs left her tiny frame. Her head shot up when an arm was draped around her shoulder. It was Yixing. Soheon buried her face in his chest and let herself fall apart for a moment. He silently held her, softly rubbing her back and stroking her hair. ‘He’s really gone Yixing, I couldn’t believe it. Until I saw it for myself’ she sobbed against his shoulder. ‘I know, I know’ was all Yixing said as he continued to stroke her back. When the crying had stopped Yixing grabbed Soheon by the shoulders and sat her up straight. He carefully rid her face of the evidence of her breakdown. ‘You’re getting married soon’ Yixing announced. It wasn’t a question or demand, it was a simple statement of the facts. A reminder for Soheon to get herself together and pretend to happily marry the second prince.

Soheon wanted to hate Won Jeong, wanted to hate the fact that she didn’t love him, wanted to hate the fact that she had to marry him, but she couldn’t. She knew her fate before getting involved with Jonghyun, but she still went ahead and gave all of her heart to Jonghyun instead of spending time warming her heart to her husband to be. Yes, they had grown up together but ever since Soheon showed signs of becoming ‘a real woman’ as her mother had put it, she was never left alone with her future husband. After their official public engagement, she was allowed to be alone with him but by then she had already given herself to Jonghyun. Won Jeong was a prince in every sense of the word. He was incredibly pretty, had a great sense of duty but was also incredibly spoiled and selfish. He would throw a fit every time things didn’t work out his way. It scared Soheon when he was like that. Yet, she had always been raised strong minded and unafraid to stand up for her own worth. Soheon allowed herself to look at Yixing. Her friend Yixing, he had been with her through this whole ordeal of losing Jonghyun. To this day she still doesn’t know why he was executed. He wasn’t a political person, he didn’t much care for anything apart from the horses, his mother and of course, Soheon. Yixing had told her the news. He had taken her for a walk to the outer ring of the palace gardens and told her he had been executed that morning. Soheon collapsed in his arms, unable to keep her royal charade up. The man whom she had loved so deeply for years had been executed after having been ‘missing’ for two full weeks. It was the final straw that broke Soheon. She had been struggling to keep the worry over Jonghyun from her body, more and more people started to notice the dark circles, of the many sleepless nights, under her eyes. They started to notice how her skin had become dull from her loss of appetite. Even Won Jeong had started to notice and made a comment about how she should do something to get her appetite back before she became undesirable. Of course, he would only care about his own loss in this and not Soheon’s health. Yes, he had developed a sort of ‘crush’ on her over the years, but it became quite apparent that this was mostly due to her looks and ability to produce heirs than anything else. He didn’t love her like Jonghyun had done. He would never appreciate her body like Jonghyun had done. Not that they had had any sexual relations at all. It was strictly forbidden for the bride to have any sexual relations before marriage. Soheon never much cared for that rule when she was with Jonghyun. Her first time with Jonghyun was unexpected and a little clumsy. Their secret kisses had just turned into secret make-out sessions but both of them were still too paranoid about being found out to go any further than just kisses.

One evening after Soheon had slipped out of the house to meet Jonghyun in the stables. He took her on a romantic midnight picnic in the midst of the palace gardens, away from the prying eyes of any of the servants. She had felt so safe on his arms that warm summer’s night. Soon enough their kisses started to grow needier and their hands explored each other’s body shamelessly. Jonghyun’s eyes had been filled with doubt when he dropped the question: ‘can I make you mine?’ He was afraid Soheon would reject him immediately and run away, especially since she was already engaged to be married. Soheon bit her lip shyly and nodded. Jonghyun looked in her sky-blue eyes, she might be the only girl in the whole of Joseon which such deep blue eyes. ‘I need you to speak up Soheon, are you sure you want to give this up to me?’ Jonghyun commented sternly. ‘Yes, I want this Jonghyun, you are the only one I want this with’ Soheon had muttered softly, it was almost a whisper, but it sounded clear through the silence of the bright night. It was as if all constraints vanished after the spoken consent. Soheon had not before experienced this kind of hunger in her body. It was as if she didn’t have enough limbs to fully enjoy the shape of Jonghyun, her lips were not fast enough to provide the kisses she wanted to give him. Her nerves endings were being too sensitive because every inch of her body that Jonghyun touched felt as if it was on fire. It was unlike anything she had experienced before, though it was clear that Jonghyun had done this before. His skilled hands roamed her body leaving no part untouched. 

Soheon arched her back off the ground when his slender fingers found her most sensitive spot. A soft moan made its way past her velvety lips. She let out a gasp when one of Jonghyun’s fingers entered her while his other hand was still stimulating her clit. Soheon wanted so much to look Jonghyun in the eyes but the sensation was too overwhelming for her eyes to stay open. ‘Jonghyun’ she breathed unable to form any coherent sentences. ‘Just relax and enjoy’ Jonghyun encouraged before lowering his face down to Soheon’s parted legs. A wave of pleasure washed over Soheon and she couldn’t help but moan out Jonghyun’s name over and over as if it was the only thing keeping her from losing her sanity. When she came down from her high she realised that Jonghyun had been placing soft kisses on every inch of her body occasionally muttering ‘mine’ before or after panting the kiss. Soheon realised that she was the only one not dressed and felt a little shy about it. She also felt the urgent need to repay the favour. She pulled Jonghyun up and guided his face towards her own before linking their lips, her hands freely roaming his body. Their kiss was interrupted briefly by Jonghyun losing his shirt, their lips found each other again quickly after that and Soheon let her hands roam lower palming Jonghyun through the light fabric of his trousers, earning a low grunt from him. Soheon let her hand slip past the waistband of his trousers to softly stroke his half-hard member. ‘Soheon, you don’t have to’ Jonghyun started ‘Shh, I want to’ Soheon continued swallowing his arguing by kissing him passionately. Jonghyun moaned into the kiss when Soheon started putting more pressure in her thrusts. She briefly let go of his member to get rid his trousers completely. She then proceeded to kneel before him lazily thrusting his member to complete hardness. She placed her lips on the head of his member giving it a chaste kiss before using her tongue to circle around it. This elicited a moan from Jonghyun who tangled his hands into Soheon’s hair trying his hardest to constrain himself from thrusting into her mouth mercilessly. Soheon opened her mouth completely to let his member fill the orifice. She bobbed her head up and down making sure to let her tongue glide up and down the shaft with each movement. She casted her eyes up to see Jonghyun’s head thrown back in pleasure making her giggle a little around his member. This made a loud grunt erupt from Jonghyun and before she realised Jonghyun had lifted her up and carefully placed her on the blanket on the ground before hovering over her. Their bodies were enveloped into each other and Jonghyun’s member was rubbing Soheon’s folds with every slow thrust he made. His breathing was slow and laboured a slight trail of sweat glistening on his forehead but the look in his eyes was strict ‘Were you laughing at me just now?’ he asked dominance darkening his voice. Soheon couldn’t control the nervous laughter that escaped her body. ‘No, No, Not you, us, this, it’s weird’ she giggled. The hard look on Jonghyun’s face disappeared ‘Yeah, I guess it is, if you think about it’ he chuckled lacing her lips with more chaste kisses. He moved to align his member and looked back into her eyes. ‘Are you ready?’ Soheon almost didn’t want to answer as this was such an intimate and beautiful moment between them, skin to skin, thoughts aligning as if they were completely in sync. She nodded softly and braced herself for the movement. Jonghyun fit her like a puzzle piece and soon she indicated for him to start moving. Things seemed to get blurry then. The pleasure of moving in sync was so overwhelming that Soheon soon felt the same wave of pleasure she felt before approach. She grabbed onto Jonghyun’s shoulder and muttered his name indicating that she was close. He kissed her lips passionately before muttering ‘me too’ against them. Not soon after they both reached their high and collapsed on the blanket panting loudly into the otherwise quiet night. Soheon had never felt more complete in her life than in that moment.

Yixing heaved a sigh. Soheon could see the burden in his eyes he was trying his best to lighten Soheon’s burden, so her heart would be safe in its grief. ‘I think you need to back to your fiancé’ Yixing cautioned softly looking at the sky as his brow furrowed. Soheon grimaced at the prospect, but she knew Yixing was right. It was getting close to dusk and she was sure Won Jeong would get angry if she got home after dark. Yixing helped her up and got rid of the dirt on her dress. She glanced back once more at the grave, the stone read ‘Here rests our beloved son and friend:  Jonghyun 1379 -1400’. At least he got a marked headstone, unlike so many others. Soheon turned back, breathed in deeply and softly cleared her throat of the tears. This was the time where she had to be strong, for Jonghyun. She had to live on for him, with him in mind and heart. She might even try to warm her heart to her husband to be, but she shivered slightly at that thought. It might take a while for that to actually happen, but for Jonghyun she would definitely try. Yixing held his arm out and Soheon linked their arms together, allowing herself to lean on him a little while longer. Slowly they made their way towards Soheon and Won Jeong’s quarters. Yixing tried his best to keep conversation light and without burden. As expected, Won Jeong was waiting for Soheon outside their house. The look on his face told Soheon that he was anything but pleased with the sight of her. ‘Where have you been?’ he snapped ‘I wasn’t feeling well and wanted to go for a walk, Yixing kindly offered to accompany me so I wouldn’t be alone’ Soheon reasoned. She nodded to Yixing indicating he was free to leave. ‘Why would you take a servant for a walk?’ Won Jeong grimaced as if Yixing was nothing more than a mere object instead of a person. ‘Because he is my friend’ Soheon shot balling her hands tightly into fists trying to refrain from smacking her fiancé’s face. Won Jeong snorted ‘Friend? He can’t be your friend Soheon, he is a servant, he is below you.’ He even seemed to chuckle a little which resulted in Soheon losing her cool. ‘He’s been more of a friend to me than you will ever be’ she shouted. The anger that coloured Won Jeong’s face grew more intense and with a loud smack his hand landed on her face. She instinctively cupped the cheek that got struck. Tears welled up in her eyes, she dared to strike him back. Now it was his turn to caress the affected cheek. Pushing him aside as she made her way inside. She knew she might have to pay for that action later, but she couldn’t let him insult her only living friend. Someone who’s been there for her with her highest highs and now through her lowest lows. Soheon made her way straight to her own room. Having lost her appetite completely she refused to leave the room. 

She let the tears fall from her eyes, using the opportunity to release the tension. After a while there was a short knock on the wood. Soheon stayed quiet hoping whoever was at the door, would leave her alone. She wasn’t in such luck. The door opened softly and Won Jeong walked in with a tray. There was a bowl of something warm on the tray as well as a wet cloth. Soheon quickly wiped the tears off her cheek but didn’t dare to meet his eyes. She knew she could be executed for striking a prince. Won Jeong placed the tray next to the bed and continued to sit beside Soheon on the bed. He had the cloth in his hand and moved his body to face Soheon. Soheon kept her eyes firmly focused on her lap and used all her strength to not burst into tears and plead for her life to be spared. Won Jeong’s hand gently grabbed Soheon’s chin and softly forced her to look at him. She finally let her eyes meet his. The anger that had coloured his face before was gone completely, the only thing colouring his face was the small print of her hand. Soheon gasped at the sight. Won Jeong did something unexpected next, he smiled. He lifted the cloth up to Soheon’s face and placed it on the cheek he hit before. She hadn’t realised how much it had hurt until the cold cloth touched the area, she winced a little and Won Jeong grimaced at that ‘I’m sorry’ he muttered, his voice barely a whisper. ‘It’s okay, it’s just a little sore’ Soheon clarified he shook his head softly ‘I mean, for doing this to you’ he averted his eyes, a sign that he was being sincere. ‘Oh’ Soheon breathed ‘me too’ she continued using one of her hands to move the cloth from her cheek to his. He closed his eyes at the sensation placing his warm hand over her own. She allowed herself to study his face. She had grown up with this man, but she had not seen this vulnerable side of him before. He had beautifully almond shaped eyes. The colour couldn’t be seen with his eyes closed but Soheon knew the colour well, a hazelnut brown that turned a golden caramel when they were hit by the sun. She had not before allowed herself to appreciate their beauty, but she kept telling herself that she had to warm her heart to him. He heaved a shaky sigh ‘How have we become like this, So’. The use of her childhood nickname caught Soheon off guard. She didn’t know why exactly but she felt the need to be honest with him in this intimate moment they were sharing. ‘Won’ she used his nickname as well which made him open his eyes to meet hers ‘This might take some time… you see, my heart, it belonged to someone else, but I have lost him’ she lowered her hand from his face and moved her eyes to her hands, unable to handle whatever pain might be layered in those beautiful eyes by what she had just said. ‘s…someone else?’ he asked. It didn’t sound angry which is what encouraged Soheon to continue. ‘Yes, I gave my heart away naively, and now it’s broken. I want to be a good wife to you Won Jeong, but… I… need time’ a single tear fell from her eye and Won Jeong’s hand moved to catch it. ‘I see’ he acknowledged. ‘I’m sorry’ Soheon muttered, unable to keep her voice from shaking. He took a deep breath and let it out slowly. ‘eat. I will see you in the morning’ he composed himself and straightened his posture. He cupped Soheon’s face with his warm hands and placed his lips softly on her forehead before standing up and leaving the room, giving a small dutiful bow before closing the door. Soheon glanced at the bowl of food. It was still warm, and her stomach rumbled after the tension of the confession had left her. She finished the bowl in record time, and silently thanked Won Jeong for his kindness before falling asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's chapter three! Let me know what you think and give me some of your predictions if you'd like!


	4. Chapter Four

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Buckle up buttercup, this is a long one!

****

**South Korea 2018**

Sian woke up to the sunlight caressing her face again. She groaned loudly making a mental note to finally buy some proper curtains for the bedroom soon and got herself up from the bed. A glance at the clock told her that it was only half 7 in the morning, which was way too early for the weekend. She vaguely remembered the dream she had last night. She remembered the hurt she felt being in front of that grave. It made no sense to Sian. The last dream she had about them, Jonghyun had just gone missing, and now he’s dead. Yixing had been an exceptionally good friend, according to what she could make out in the dream. She realised this because she experienced Soheon’s feelings within the dream like they were her own. She views her dreams from the perspective of Soheon, which turned out to be incredibly intense because the woman has a lot of emotions for such a small lady. Soheon loved Yixing very much but like a brother more than a love interest. The only person Sian was confused about was Won Jeong. He seemed arrogant and selfish most of the time but the way he had apologised made her, as well as Soheon, confused. Sian shook her head lightly as if to shake the dream from her mind.

Sian loved spending the weekend at home and just organise her things and clean her house. To be honest, she used to be a bit of a hermit. Always choosing to stay in the comfort of her home rather than going out. That all change when Eunhyuk cheated on her. It was like she had become another person. Taking different guys home over the weekend and never sleeping with anyone twice, no matter how much they begged her. Sometimes she felt disgusted by her behaviour not giving two shits about who was moaning her name or that she had slept with almost twenty different men in the span of three months. Yet most of the time she did it to gain a sense of control over her life. She controlled the amount of men she slept with, she controlled who they were and most of all there were no feelings involved on her part. No way was she giving her heart away to anyone, not anymore. So, she would spend all those nights with different men just to watch the evidence of it disappear with the washing of her bedsheets. 

The past two weeks Baekhyun had insisted on joining her nights out and Sian could tell that he was worried about her sleeping with so many different men. Before Sian could even think about not leaving an invitation for Baekhyun, he would text her a time and place to meet up. Sian actually thought it was nice to start the evening with one of her friends, completely erasing the awkward phase of selecting a target. Baekhyun usually brought Kyungsoo with him which made Sian feel a little out of place, especially once they got touchy after a few drinks. Luckily, the area of Seoul where Sian lived was frequented by many tourists who were often looking for ‘just a night of fun’ which Sian could happily provide. They would talk about her eyes in different language. Sian knew that she had special eyes. No native in this part of the world had sky-blue eyes. She would tell them little white lies about how manly they were and show sexy their bodies were just to get them off. She never gave out her number to anyone, afraid that they might stalk her and demand more, and when they entered her house in a frenzy of lust she would mumble something about not making too much of a mess because it was her sister’s house. Making them think she didn’t live there. It had worked out well so far, apart from a few annoying ones she would run into again in the club, but usually another guy would then come to her ‘rescue’ saving her the selection process of picking someone to take home. It was a well-oiled machine in process. Yet, Sian began to grow tired of it. No matter how many men she would sleep with, the wound in her heart would not heal and she hated herself for missing Eunhyuk so much. She hated that she still imagined him being the one to please her, because no one else could get her off. She hated how she could still remember how he smelled during sex and how melodic his moans were when he said her name as he came. The sound of her phone vibrating on the table pulled her out of her daydream.

 __ **From Baekhyun:**  
**To Sian:  
** Be ready at 8, I’m picking you up. Tonight, we’re going fancy clubbing, just the two of us. Xx B

 __ **From Sian:**  
**To Baekhyun:  
** Is Kyungsoo not joining us?

 __ **From Baekhyun:**  
**To Sian:  
** No, his pathetic ass can stay home tonight. Don’t ask. 

Sian chuckled lightly at Baekhyun’s messages. This would happen every so often when Baekhyun and Kyungsoo got into an argument about something. Baekhyun would react incredibly dramatic but in the end, when he got home from a night out alone missing his boyfriend to cling to when he was drunk, they would usually make up again and continue the way they were. It seemed today was that kind of day. She shot a quick message to Kyungsoo.

 __ **From Sian:**  
**To Kyungsoo:  
** I’ll take good care of him tonight, don’t worry. Xx S 

 __ **From Kyungsoo:**  
**To Sian:  
** I don’t care, you two have fun.

I seemed Kyungsoo had a touch for the dramatics as well. Sian chuckled again. Kyungsoo was never one for sharing his feelings openly but she knew he appreciated the message and reassurance that she would keep an eye on him.

After finishing her dinner Sian made her way into the bedroom to prepare for her night out with Baekhyun. He talked about ‘fancy clubbing’. Sian had no idea what he meant by that, so she decided to give him a call to clarify. After two rings he picked up.

‘Yah, I’m picking you up in two hours, do you miss me that much that you need a call as well’ she heard him laugh at his own joke though he tried to hide it from her.

‘Get your arm out of your own ass, you arrogant prick, I’m just calling to ask what you mean with ‘fancy clubbing’ so I can dress appropriately’ Sian replied, unfazed by Baekhyun’s arrogance. There was a short silence on the other end of the line before Baekhyun spoke again.

‘Okay, give me 10 minutes and I’ll help you pick an outfit for it, I need to get away from here anyways’ he blurted before hanging up. Sian looked at her phone in slight confusion but decided to wait for him while trying on different outfits. As promised the door opened about 10 minutes after Baekhyun ended their phone call. Baekhyun was the only person beside herself who owned a key to her apartment. Not even her mother was granted the luxury of that item. Baekhyun had earned his spot as Sian’s best friend so one day she casually put the key in his hands. Naturally he made a joke out of it talking about it being the next step in their relationship and that after this they should get married. Sian laughed along but was sure to make clear that she was serious about this and that he was the only one she trusted with the key, especially after she kicked Eunhyuk out and changed the locks. Baekhyun’s gasped in slight shock when he saw the carnage that Sian’s outfit journey had left in the room.

‘Sian, look at this mess. You’re overthinking again’ he joked picking up several pieces of clothing from the floor, inspecting them before throwing them on the bed. He eventually settled on a black dress with a low open back and ushered Sian to put it on. Sian sighed at her small figure. She had always wanted to be a bit more ‘feminine’ in terms of her figure, but she wasn’t blessed with beautifully curved hips or worth-of-showing cleavage. It wasn’t as if she had none of it, it just wasn’t as feminine as she would have liked. Even though she didn’t like to show cleavage anyways. Women always seem to be unhappy with the way they look, whatever way they look. Sian decided to let it go for now since the dress did look good on her body, hugging her figure in a way that showed off what she did have. Perfect for a night out. Enticing but not slutty. Paired with a pair of open black heels she felt powerful, though it lacked colour. This was where Baekhyun came to the rescue. He picked the perfect colourful accessories that elevated the look to a completely different level.

 

They arrived at ‘Youth’ one of the most popular night clubs in the whole of South Korea. Sian groaned loudly at the look of the queue before the venue. This was one of the reasons she would rather stay home than go out, queueing. This meant that half their night would be wasted standing in line to get in. Some girls would try and flirt with the bouncer or flash their boobs to get in, but Sian never wanted to stoop that low. Once a particularly perverted bouncer refused to let her inside saying she could only get in if she showed him her boobs or gave him a blow job. Sian had left at that feeling utterly disgusted by the way she was treated and barely went out again. That was until her and Eunhyuk broke up. Now she didn’t care anymore who looked at her body or in what way.

‘Baek, why are we doing this. I don’t want to spend half the night waiting in the cold’ Sian complained pouting her lip in annoyance. He grinned widely and poked her cheek

‘Don’t be silly, I got us on the list, so we can skip the queue’. Sian’s eyes widened in amazement

‘How did that happen?’ she asked her voice high in surprise.

‘Well, one of those girls from the other day happens to know a few people here and she wanted to give me something, because apparently by hiring her for the day she convinced her father that she was responsible and ready for the real world, so he bought her an apartment, or something, and she was thankful’ Sian’s jaw dropped to the floor. She should be thanking those girls into oblivion for saving the day, not the other way around. Nevertheless, she was thankful they could walk past all those people suffering in the queue. They arrived at the start of it and the bouncer gave them a questioning look, leaving his eyes to linger on Sian for just a little too long.

‘Hey, Pal, our eyes are up here, now don’t give us that look, we’re on the guest list’ Baekhyun snarled and Sian couldn’t help but be impressed by his confidence. Baekhyun cited their names and the bouncer sighed opening the little chain on the side to let them through.

‘Thanks’ Sian muttered to the bouncer as they made their way through the door.

When they stepped through the big double door Sian could feel the vibration of the music move through every fibre of her body. Those doors must be made of some special material since the music was barely audible outside. The volume of the music inside was so deafeningly loud that any normal conversation was impossible, yet with lots of gesturing and shouting they agreed to get some drinks first before hitting the dancefloor. Sian saw one of the booths unoccupied and gestured to Baekhyun that she would sit down while he gets the drinks. Like some type of miracle, he understood her right away and she made her way to the booth. The music seemed a lot quieter on this side of the club and Sian sighed in relief. She was happy she didn’t have to shout anymore once Baekhyun got back. She sat down on one side of the table when she heard someone let out a soft curse next to her. She looked up to see the same guy she delivered the coffee to earlier this week. The one that looked like a carbon copy of the prince in her recurring dreams.

‘Oh, it’s you’ he marvelled. He eyed the booth ‘do you mind?’ he asked gesturing if he could sit down. ‘eh…no not at all, sit’ Sian sputtered, surprised by the fact that he seemed to recognise her as well.

He sat down opposite her and gazed at her ‘You’re the coffee girl, right?’ he asked hesitantly. ‘I prefer woman, but yes’ Sian joked trying to lighten the mood a little. He smiled a short breath leaving his body in awe ‘Touché, you are definitely more than a girl’ he mused, and you understood clearly what his intentions were with that sentence.

‘I’m sorry…’ he cocked an eyebrow before interrupting her. ‘You’re taken? Yeah, I know, I saw you kiss Eunhyuk the day you brought those coffees’ he almost smiled at her, but Sian could see immediately that he didn’t mean that smile.

‘No no, god no, I’m not taken’ she gestured frantically with her arms ‘especially not by Eunhyuk, at least not anymore’ Sian continued to defend. ‘Oh, I’m sorry’ he said. The look on the man’s face changed into a genuine smile and Sian couldn’t help but smile along. He had the same almond shaped eyes as the prince and even their colour matched.

Sian let herself study his face and tried to remember if it was the same as the Prince’s. His cheekbones were not very high on his face making his cheeks look quite round, almost like a hamster. His jawline was sharp and manly, but she couldn’t remember if the Prince’s was too. He had a childlike button nose. Her eyes landed on his lips, subconsciously wetting her own she stared at the plump bottom lip, his upper lip was slightly smaller than his upper, but the cupid’s bow was very pronounced shaping his lips perfectly.

‘You’re staring, again’ he acknowledged, and a blush crept up Sian’s face. She looked away in embarrassment when she saw Baekhyun approaching with their drinks. She quickly got up to meet him and get her drink.

 

The second the glass hit her lips she gulped half of it down. The drink was nice and fresh, and the alcohol stung a little when it went down, she still was not over the embarrassment. ‘Woah there, tiger, want to try taking it a little slower?’ Baekhyun joked ‘not really’ she commented and shrugged her shoulders when he raised an eyebrow at her. He glanced over to the booth she just left

‘What happened?’ he asked grabbing Sian’s wrist before she could make a run for it. She turned back to face him sighing in defeat. ‘He... caught me staring at him’ she admitted trying her hardest not to glance his way. He looked back at the table and frowned in confusion ‘So? He’s cute’. Sian allowed herself one glance at the table and regretted it immediately, he was staring right at her. ‘He, is not…. Well, okay, he is. But…’

Baekhyun laughed loudly interrupting her excuses. ‘It’s been a while since I’ve seen you this shy, do you like him?’ he wiggled his eyebrows Sian punched his shoulder before raising his voice at him ‘Byun Baekhyun, I do not like him. Stop your shenanigans right now’ she threatened. Baekhyun just laughed and put his arms up in defence. ‘I was staring at him because he looks exactly like the prince in my dreams, like, spot on’ Sian continued and Baekhyun’s eyes grew in amazement. ‘It’s meant to be!’ he squealed. Sian rolled her eyes and glanced back at the table she just sat at. Her heart sank in her shoes at the sight of someone in the booth with him, of course he wasn’t here alone. Someone that beautiful was never alone for long. She heaved a sigh and turned her attention back to Baekhyun.

‘Let’s dance’ she announced which had Baekhyun spitting his drink through his nose Sian giggled at the sight. ‘Dance?’ he coughed ‘You never dance, you let me dance and you watch. You don’t dance.’ He explained seemingly unsure of who the person standing front of him was and what they had done with his best friend. ‘I don’t know, I just feel like dancing’ Sian explained and tugged on Baekhyun’s shirt, taking him to the dancefloor. Baekhyun was a terribly good dancer, it was like his hips had a life of their own and every movement was perfectly timed on the beat. Sian envied it sometimes because the only thing she could do was swing her hips from side to side to the music. While Baekhyun made a whole show out of it. Boys and girls alike threw themselves at him once they had seen him dance. The only reason Sian hadn’t done the same is because she knows he’s both gay and taken and she wouldn’t dare to pick a fight with Kyungsoo. Neither would any of the people throwing themselves at him now, they just didn’t know of his existence.

Baekhyun absolutely loved the attention and would sway his hips just a bit more, dip just a little bit deeper, just to elicit a reaction. Sian often wondered what he was doing working as a barista, but Baekhyun had told her that’s where he’s happiest. The reason Sian disliked dancing so much wasn’t because she wasn’t good at dancing, it was the fact that nine out of ten times some random guy would start dancing behind her and grind up to her. They would proceed to get angry whenever she indicated she didn’t want it, like she should be happy they were feeling her up. It disgusted her more than anything. Tonight, was different because Sian needed the stress relief of dancing more than she feared being groped. The dancing really helped relief the stress Sian had felt. She stopped caring about her dance skills after the fourth drink of the night and let her body move to the beat. She sang the words from the top of her lungs and laughed wholeheartedly. It might have been the alcohol but for the first time since the dreams had started Sian felt unburdened and free.

A hand grabbed her wrist forcefully and pulled Sian off the dancefloor. It took a while for her to register what happened and when she realised it was not Baekhyun holding her hand she started to struggle. Once they had left the dancefloor the hand finally let go of her wrist and she grabbed it trying to sooth the now sensitive skin. When she looked up again she looked straight into the eyes of her ex-boyfriend Eunhyuk and he looked anything but pleased.

‘What were you doing there?’ he demanded, and Sian scoffed.

‘It’s none of your business what I do or don’t do anymore’ Sian corrected ‘but if you must know, I was having a good time until you rudely interrupted it’ she scowled at him. He angrily let the air escape through his nose, a sign of displeasure. Sian knew it well, she used to fear it, but not anymore.

‘There were people eyeing you up and down and trying to grind onto you. You hate that’ he argued trying to make her feel guilty for having a good time. She pointed a finger at him ‘Listen up Eunhyuk, I’m not your girlfriend anymore. Now please leave me alone’ she turned to walk away when her wrist was once again grabbed forcefully as he turned her around. ‘Eunhyuk…’ she started but he shut her up by attaching his lips to her. Sian tried to push him away, but he was definitely stronger than her. Suddenly his lips and body moved away from her and Sian took a deep breath before letting herself drop to her knees. She couldn’t believe he had done that. Looking at her hands she saw that she was trembling. She finally dared to look up to the person who had caused the distress and saw the man from the office again. This time he was twisting Eunhyuk’s ear in such a way that he was wincing in pain and begged him to let him go. The man let go, turned him around forcefully and pushed him away from Sian.

‘Don’t make me fire you for being an asshole to women’ he shouted after him before turning towards Sian. He held his hand out to her and pulled her up. She was still feeling unsteady from the whole event, or maybe it was the alcohol, and her knees gave out. He caught her easily

‘woah, careful there’ he muttered softly. She could feel his breath on her skin and his scent caught her nose. He smelled like vanilla and freshly washed bedlinen. She steadied herself on her own two feet again and thanked the man.

‘After you said you weren’t taken by him I figured you wouldn’t want to be kissed by him again’ he explained scratching the back of his neck nervously. Sian smiled at him what power did this man have over her to render her so speechless.

She cleared her throat ‘I’m sorry I ran off before, I guess I was just a little embarrassed’ she apologised. He chuckled ‘no need to be sorry. I’m Minseok’ he held out his hand and she suddenly realised that they had skipped the introductions before. She took his hand and he squeezed hers lightly ‘Sian’ she breathed once again enticed by his beautifully almond shaped eyes once more. Sian realised she was staring again and quickly averted her gaze. He stepped a little closer and Sian felt her heart accelerate. Their faces were inches apart, but Sian didn’t dare to look up at him again, afraid she might get caught in his gaze again. Sian cleared her throat in the hopes of calming her unsteady heart

‘I should find my friend, he might be looking for me’ she announced. ‘It seems your friend is having a great time on his own to be honest’ Minseok commented pointing towards the dancefloor. Sian followed his gesture and saw Baekhyun grinding against some random guy, who had his hands all over him.

‘Shit’ Sian muttered and made her way to Baekhyun, leaving a dumbfounded Minseok behind. Baekhyun was incredibly unpredictable when he was drunk so Sian proceeded with caution. She gently placed her hand on his arm, indicating she was there. Baekhyun opened his eyes and threw his arms around her the second he recognised her.

‘Sian, baby’ he slurred the alcohol strong on his breath. ‘How many have you had?!?’ Sian asked surprised he was standing on his feet at all. ‘I don’t remember, this nice boy kept buying me my favourite’ he hiccupped gesturing towards the boy that he had been grinding against seconds ago. Sian shot him an angry look. He was trying to get Baekhyun drunk, so it would probably be easier to take him home.

‘He’s taken’ you shouted at him, the boy just laughed ‘by you? Dear, he’s a walking gay neon sign’ he objected. ‘Not by me, by a guy who has guys like you for breakfast’ Sian threatened. This seemed to be enough and the boy backed off. Sian placed an arm around Baekhyun’s waist to be able to guide him and they made their way off the dance floor and towards the cloakroom. 

Baekhyun was leaning heavily on her. ‘You’re very sexy when you’re angry’ Baekhyun commented when the sound of the music had quietened down. ‘Are you so drunk you forgot that you’re gay?’ Sian laughed Baekhyun looked at her in slight confusion

‘I’m bisexual, silly, I just usually prefer guys’ he touched the tip of her nose briefly to emphasise his point. This time it was Sian who looked confused ‘alright’ she finally said, ‘but you’re already taken by Kyungsoo, and he loves you very much, and he could also kill me’ it sounded like a joke, but Sian was very aware of Kyungsoo’s ability to let people ‘disappear’.

It was that bad boy image that Baekhyun had fallen for. However, Kyungsoo seemed to turn to complete mush when it came to Baekhyun. ‘Where’s your coat Baekhyun?’ Sian asked after placing him on a barstool with his weight against the wall, so he wouldn’t fall over. ‘I didn’t bring one’ he chuckled as if it was the funniest thing.

Sian groaned audibly, of course he didn’t bring one. She glanced over him and saw that his shirt had been soaked in sweat from all the dancing. She got her own coat and threw it over Baekhyun to keep him warm against the cold breeze outside. Even though Sian was wearing a dress, she hadn’t been dancing for that long, so she was alright dealing with the cold. She also had a few drinks herself and the alcohol made her feel warm enough. She let Baekhyun lean on her again as they made their way outside. Once they reached the door the weight of Baekhyun shifted and Sian looked over at the cause of the release. It was Minseok who helped carry Baekhyun.

‘Thank you’ Sian muttered into the silence. Minseok glanced over and Sian couldn’t escape the little jump her heart made when he looked at her ‘Anytime’ he muttered back still looking at her. Sian moved to look straight ahead extremely aware of the distraction his eyes had caused her before. ‘His house is just a few blocks from here. I’m sure Kyungsoo will be waiting for him’ Sian commented into the silence.

‘Hmm… okay’ Minseok hummed in reply, clearly dealing with the majority of Baekhyun’s weight. ‘You smell nice’ Baekhyun prattled leaning a bit more into Minseok. ‘Thank you’ Minseok replied ‘You smell very strongly of alcohol’ this made Sian burst into laughter. It wasn’t really funny but the way Baekhyun had looked at Minseok when he said it seemed incredibly funny to Sian. ‘You do’ she added still chuckling lightly.

They reached the apartment building where Baekhyun and Kyungsoo lived. Sian grabbed her phone from her bag and rung Kyungsoo’s number. He picked up after just two rings, clearly waiting for Baekhyun to come home. ‘Hey Soo, we’re outside the building…… Yeah he’s quite drunk, shall I help him get up…. Okay… yeah… we’ll wait’ Sian could hear the relief in Kyungsoo’s voice and when he exited the lift she saw it on his face.

They loved each other so much that nothing could get between them. He rushed outside and let Baekhyun shift his weight onto him. ‘Hey, you smell nicer than that other guy’ Baekhyun commented making Minseok giggle slightly. Kyungsoo thanked both of you and made his way inside with Baekhyun hanging on one side continuously making comments about how pretty Kyungsoo was and how he looked exactly like his boyfriend.

Sian looked at them fondly until they were out of sight and then turned back to Minseok. ‘Thank you for helping me, don’t know how long that would’ve taken if I had to do it alone’ she dared a glance into his eyes, they were looking right at her. ‘Probably a long time with those tiny arms’ he joked and pinched her arms softly. ‘Hey’ she pouted in fake offence.

‘Can I walk you home?’ the question surprised Sian. She had expected either a less innocent request of joining him at his place or just that their ways would part here. ‘Um sure’ she finally replied unsure why she accepted. They walked into the night in a comfortable silence. Sian caught herself stealing a glance his way every so often. She was still amazed by the fact that he looked so much like Prince Won Jeong. She contemplated telling him about her dreams and how he apparently was part of them, but she figured it would be strange to hear from someone you just met that they’ve seen you in their dreams. She looked up at him once more only to be met with his piercing gaze.

‘Am I that good looking that you keep staring at me?’ he asked while keeping his eyes focussed on her. Sian could feel the blush creeping up to her face and wanted to avert her gaze from him, but she realised she couldn’t stop looking at him. He cocked one eyebrow awaiting her response and she cleared her throat softly. ‘I… um…’ once more the option to tell the truth crossed her mind ‘You just have very beautiful eyes’ she finally reasoned ‘but not that good, I mean, don’t let it get to your head’ Minseok chuckled and simply hummed breaking their gaze and continuing to walk alongside her into the clear night gazing at the stars.

When they turned the corner before her street Sian saw a hooded figure in front of her apartment building. He was shouting into the night and Sian recognised him immediately. She pulled Minseok’s sleeve and pulled the both of them back around the corner. ‘What the…’ Minseok started but Sian quickly placed her hand on his mouth to silence him ‘Shh’ she whispered ‘If he realises I’m here he’ll never leave me alone’ she carefully glanced around the corner, but the man was still there. Minseok grabbed Sian’s hand with his own and removed it from his face, indicating he would be quite when Sian shot him a worried look. ‘Who’s that’ he whispered his lips were so close to her ear that it sent shivers down her spine. ‘Eunhyuk’ she replied hatred layering her voice. Minseok was about to turn the corner to confront him but Sian pulled him back ‘Please don’t, he’s very aggressive when he’s drunk. I don’t want you to get hurt’ she muttered softly. Minseok sighed clearly disagreeing with her stance but letting it go anyways. He grabbed her hand and started walking the opposite direction they came from. ‘Remind me to fire him in the morning’ Minseok muttered, the anger still clear in his voice. ‘Don’t fire him’ Sian pleaded ‘He might get worse then’ she had known all too well the effects of alcohol on her ex-boyfriend. He would get angry at everything that was wrong in his life, trying to find someone to blame. Sian had always been a target in these moments. He never actually hit her, but he had gotten close a few times. The verbal abuse was enough to scar her. Now every time someone raises their voice at Sian she flinches, it’s become such a reflex that she can’t help it.

‘Can I stay over at your place for a while? Just a few hours, until he’s gone’ Sian begged her voice quivering a little. Minseok looked at her worriedly as if he knew she was on the brink of tears. He pulled her a little closer placing an arm around her shoulder ‘Of course, you can stay as long as you like’ Sian was a little surprised by his openness and friendliness, not expecting the response she got, but tried not to overthink it too much.

Once she was inside the comfort of Minseok’s warm apartment, she realised how chilly it had been outside. Minseok clearly lived in the wealthier part of the city. Stepping into his spacious apartment she was almost completely surrounded by floor to ceiling windows displaying the lovely night view of Seoul. It was very different from Sian’s own tiny apartment that had one simple window in the kitchen that let out into the tiny garden, and two bigger windows one in the living area and one in her bedroom. She barely looked out the window in her living room because it was directly opposite the side of another building, making the view from her window a rather boring one. Sian made her way to the window and stared at the florescent night lights that were dominating the city. It was enchanting to look at this view. With every slight turn of her head she spotted new things about the city and quickly picked out the familiar sights. She could see her own little coffee shop from all the way up here. Minseok joined her at the window offering her a glass of red wine. She took the glass, but wasn’t sure if she should consume anymore alcohol, yet she hummed in appreciation and sipped it lightly.

‘How do you even get to work in the morning?’ Sian asked eventually. Minseok looked at her in confusion ‘I walk out the door and get my car to the building’ he answered dryly. Sian chuckled a little ‘That’s not what I meant. I mean how can you stay away from this gorgeous view. How can you look at it and walk away from it?’ It seemed a silly question, but Sian was quite serious. She had always wondered how other people’s brains work since her own seemed so different sometimes. He grinned a little at her seriousness. ‘eh…I guess I got used to it. It doesn’t seem that special to me anymore’ he admitted scratching the back of his neck in slight embarrassment. ‘Yeah, I guess that would happen if you see it every day’ Sian hummed approvingly making Minseok sigh softly in relief.

They stayed like that for a while gazing at the nightlife of Seoul while slowly sipping wine. ‘What happened between you and Eunhyuk?’ Minseok cautioned taking another sip from his own wine and looking out the window. Sian sighed she didn’t really want to talk about it, but she felt she owed him an explanation for barging into his home. ‘He cheated on me, with his secretary’ she finally let out, taking a big gulp from her wine to distract her from the tears that were stinging her eyes. She hadn’t cried at all when they broke up. She couldn’t she felt so betrayed and angry that the tears would not come. Yet now she suddenly felt like crying her eyes out and burying herself in this stranger’s chest.

Minseok’s expression had turned into a frown. ‘Are you okay?’ Sian asked when his expression didn’t seem to change. ‘Did this happen about three months ago?’ he inquired switching his gaze towards Sian. She nodded in confirmation. He hummed in acceptance ‘That explains a lot’ he finally concluded. ‘What do you mean with that?’ Sian questioned. Minseok’s frown reappeared once more as he contemplated his answer. ‘Not much, we were just confused why he suddenly fired his secretary and started behaving strange at work, and outside it for that matter’ Sian took a sharp breath in. That means Eunhyuk hadn’t been lying when he had told her he was willing to give up everything for her. A wave of guilt suddenly took over. Had she been too cruel to him? Should she have been more forgiving? No, he definitely cheated on her with her and had sex in their bed, several times if she were to believe the secretary’s words. He had been horrible to her at times during their relationship as well, getting angry at her every time she forgot to tell him exactly what she would be doing and where she would be. He’d also occasionally got a little too handsy when he was drunk. He even forced himself on her once when he was drunk. He apologised profusely for it afterwards, but it had happened nonetheless. Yeah, she was definitely better off without him. Yet, he almost threw his career out of the window after they had broken up? It was the thing he loved the most. So, maybe he did love her as much as see loved him.

‘What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?’ Minseok wondered and Sian realised that she had emptied her wine glass and had been staring outside in silence for a while now. ‘You think I’m pretty?’ she hesitated, throwing a glance his way. Minseok was looking directly at her ‘Yes, definitely’ he muttered grabbing her empty glass and putting it on the coffee table before returning to her. Sian grabbed his hand and placed a soft kiss in the palm ‘Then help me forget’ she pleaded.

The name was not mentioned but Minseok knew instantly who she was talking about. He placed his hands on either side of her face and pulled her towards him ‘gladly’ he muttered before locking their lips together in a passionate kiss. She threw her arms around his neck in an attempt to deepen the kiss, letting her tongue slide over his bottom lip. He opened his mouth to give her access, but he quickly gained dominance in the kiss. His kisses were demanding and so were his touches. His hands quickly moved from her back to her waist and then her ass which he squeezed lightly earning a quiet moan from Sian. ‘Jump’ he muttered in the kiss not breaking their contact. Sian did as he demanded, and he quickly grabbed on to her thighs as she locked her legs around him. She could feel his arousal through his tight jeans as they made their way towards the bedroom. He threw her on the bed and she bounced slightly ‘Strip’ he demanded. Sian did as she was told incredibly aroused by the single word demands he threw at her. She knew she shouldn’t be doing this. She knew this was once again an escape from her own feelings instead of dealing with them. Yet, she seemed to let go of all her morals with the drop of each piece of clothing. ‘Stop’ he grunted just before she was about to take off her panties. ‘Those are mine’ he said. He let his warm hands slide over her body. Touching every inch of her naked skin, it made goose bumps appear all over her skin and Minseok chuckled darkly ‘so needy’ he commented before placing his lips on the side of Sian’s neck. She moved her head to the side to give him better access to the area and closed her eyes at the feeling of his lips trailing along her neck and collarbones.

She was desperate to touch him and moved her hands up his torso. She could feel through the silky fabric that his body was toned. She quickly moved her hands to try and open the buttons but got stuck at the third button. Minseok’s hands had found their way into her panties making her moan loudly and her knees buckle slightly at the touch, he ripped the fabric of her panties and put them on the bedside table. His other hand hadn’t stopped touching her clit. She couldn’t contain herself and ripped his shirt open, the remaining buttons bouncing audibly across the room. ‘That was a new shirt’ he growled retaliating by removing his hand from her core. ‘I need you, Minseok, now’ she pleaded while palming him through his jeans. They seemed uncomfortably tight at this point. She popped the button and pushed the fabric down slowly. She could hear the sigh of relief he let out at the release of his member. ‘Suck it’ he demanded, and Sian could feel a wave of arousal shoot through her body. It was as if he knew exactly what so say or do to turn her on.

She pushed him on the bed and released him from the constraints of his jeans before moving up to the grey fabric of his boxer briefs which left little to her imagination. She pulled of the fabric slowly before slowly placing kisses up Minseok’s legs and thighs. His member looked painfully hard and a bit of pre-cum was leaking from its tip. Sian licked her lips in anticipation before placing them around the tip of his member. She let the tip of her tongue slide over the slit collecting the salty substance that covered it. Minseok threw his head back onto the matrass and let out a low curse as he grabbed onto the sheets. It was a great sight to behold. Sian had given plenty of blowjobs in her life and knew exactly what to do to turn men to withering and moaning messes underneath her. Yet she felt no such power with Minseok. This was so much more compared to the thrill of being able to make or break someone’s pleasure. She wanted to do well with Minseok, she wanted to please him. Minseok grabbed a hand full of her hair and guided the pace, making Sian moan around him. After a few more bobs she let go of his member and kissed her way up to catch his lips, letting him taste himself on her lips.

She moved herself to straddle his lap. ‘I need to feel you inside me’ she whispered in his ear, grinding her hips against his in confirmation. Minseok’s eyes shot open and he looked at her with a mischievous grin on his face. He quickly placed the hands that were previously grasping the sheets around her waist and turned them over, so he was hovering above her. He aligned his cock before her throbbing core but didn’t make a move after. He studied her face carefully seeking the confirmation to move on. ‘Minseok…pl…’ Sian whined before Minseok caught her lips with his own muffling her words. He slowly moved his cock inside her watching her face as he moved to fill her up. Sian closed her eyes in ecstasy finally able to let go of the pain that Eunhyuk had caused her that night. Minseok kept slowly thrusting in and out of her as if to savour every inch of her. The sudden change in their lovemaking seemed strange at first, but Sian quickly found herself being overwhelmed with emotions. She couldn’t place if it was the fact that Minseok looked so much like Won Jeong, or his mesmerising almond shaped eyes that kept looking into hers as he slowly sped up his thrusts, but she felt a strange sort of connection with this man. It was like her whole world was lying in the golden-brown windows of this man’s soul as he stared into her blue ones. They seemed opposite in everything yet fit together perfectly. Minseok sped up his trusts some more clearly chasing his own release and Sian felt desperate for her own. It felt heavenly to have him move inside her, unlike anything she had experienced before. When he repositioned them and placed one of Sian’s legs over his shoulder. He thrust up again, Sian couldn’t contain the moan that escaped her lips. ‘Oh god, right there’ she moaned as he hit exactly the right spot inside her. She could tell he was close by the unsteady rhythm of his thrusts, yet he moved his hands to her clit sending intense waves of ecstasy through her body. As he continuously thrust into her g-spot and kept stimulating her clit Sian could feel her orgasm take over her whole body. She had no control anymore over the spasms of her muscles as the wave washed over her body, making her convulse around Minseok’s member. This send him over the edge and he shot his release inside her.

Collapsing on top of Sian, both heavily panting into the night. Once they had both come down from their high Minseok rolled off Sian. He quickly made his way to the bathroom only to return with a warm cloth and started to rub Sian’s skin with it softly. It was such a gentle gesture that Sian was taken aback by it and she could barely contain the tears that sprung into her eyes. She quickly turned her head to the opposite side so Minseok wouldn’t notice the tears and let him care for her in that gentle way. He got up to get rid of the cloth and Sian quickly moved her body under the covers and turned herself away from the bathroom door. Discretely she got rid of the tears that had stained her face before Minseok re-entered the room. She could feel the matrass dip as Minseok got under the covers as well.

‘Come closer’ he hummed his voice layered with fatigue which turned it low and raspy. Sian shuffled back until she felt his warm body against his, he sighed contently, and she could feel his warm breath on her neck. She sighed lightly and let herself relax against him. He placed his arm around her waist and pulled her into him even more. ‘That was nice’ he commented, and Sian simply hummed in response afraid that speaking might reveal the tears she felt in her throat. She felt the sleep take a hold of her and let herself drift off in his arms.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hiya,
> 
> So this all might seem a bit 'much' detail wise but some of the details are going to be important later on in the story, so bear with me pleaseeeeee <3
> 
> Thank you so much for reading this far :)


	5. Chapter Five

****

**Joseon 1400**

‘Yixing!?’ Soheon shouted through the empty house. A few seconds later he came running into the room ‘What’s the matter?’ he panted. ‘Have you seen my earrings? You know those pearly ones’ Soheon inquired frantically searching the drawers of her gigantic vanity. ‘You screamed my name that loudly because of your earrings?’ Yixing asked in disbelief. ‘Yes, it’s important I wear them today, so please help me find them’ Yixing giggled softly in the background earning a deadly glance from Soheon ‘What? I just though you injured yourself badly and I’m glad it’s just something as trivial as lost earrings’ he explained while opening several drawers before rummaging in them in search for the lost items. They continued their search for a while until Yixing found the little red box that contained them at the bottom of her closet. ‘What’s so important then, hm?’ he questioned and Soheon’s cheek coloured a deep red. ‘This is going to sound silly’ she muttered. She looked up at her best friend who was looking at her, anticipating the answer to his question. ‘The Prince invited me for a walk around the gardens’ she spoke softly as if the ordeal had made her shy and she didn’t dare to meet her friend’s eyes. He hummed in approval. ‘A date with the Prince, huh?’ he joked as he helped her put the earrings on. ‘It’s not a date, he’s already my fiancé’ Soheon whispered a new flash of red colouring her cheeks. ‘Even if you were married it would still be a date, plus you’re blushing’ Yixing said matter-of-factly carefully pushing the strands of hair behind her ear so the earrings were clearly visible. ‘Shall I put it up?’ he combed through Soheon’s hair with his hands, keeping it together at the back of her head as to give a preview of the look. She looked at him through the mirror and nodded. Yixing made quick work of her hair. His hands moving around her head skilfully. He started humming a tune while working his magic and Soheon allowed herself to close her eyes for a second to enjoy it. Yixing had a beautiful voice. She was always enchanted by his singing as he would sing to her whenever she felt down or stressed. She didn’t feel stressed now as she was actually looking forward to spending the afternoon with Won Jeong. He had been so endearing when he asked her out.

_Soheon put another spoonful of fried rice in her mouth and munched away contently. Won Jeong was a great cook for someone who’s also a prince you would expect them to know little to nothing about creating a meal. Yet, Won Jeong was excellent at it. It had been a quiet afternoon for Soheon. Lounging on the deck outside their living quarters taking in the last sun of the season. Won Jeong seemed stressed when he returned from his meetings with the king and his brother. Soheon softly grabbed his hand into hers and started tracing the patterns on his hands with her fingers. ‘Please tell me what is wrong, or at least tell me what to do to make it better’ She pleaded not meeting his eyes in fear of coming across as disrespectful. He placed both his hands around hers and pulled her closer. When she was close enough to his chest he wrapped his arms around her pulling her into his embrace. ‘Let me cook for you’ he had offered letting his breath caress her hair. After watching him work around the kitchen Soheon couldn’t help but be a little overwhelmed by the sheer admiration she felt for him in that moment. ‘Where did you learn how to cook?’ she had asked sneakily stealing a little bit of the cooked rice and putting it in her mouth. ‘Yah! No stealing’ he had warned lightly smacking her hands away from the food ‘I spend a lot of my youth running away from my responsibilities and I used to hide in the kitchen a lot. Martha the kitchen lady had been like more like a mother to me than my own mother, so she taught me to cook’ he explained his face lighting up with a nostalgic grin. Soheon couldn’t stop the little jump her heart made at the sight of it. It was strange to feel this way around him since her heart was still very much bleeding for Jonghyun. Yet, he seemed to know exactly how to woo her and make her forget, if only for a little while. Won Jeong had chuckled lightly at the sight of Soheon eating ‘I can’t believe you, of all people, are raised to be a princess’ he joked. Soheon’s head shot up and threw him a menacing look and Won Jeong raised his hands in defence ‘It’s just, the way you’re eating is not very princess-like’ he stifled another laugh with his fist and tried to keep a straight face. With her mouth half full Soheon replied ‘You were not the only one running away from responsibilities’. After a few more bites she finished the bowl and leaned back against the wall contently stroking her full stomach. ‘That was nice, but I still haven’t done anything for you’ she sighed. She allowed herself to gaze up at the prince and was captivated by the almond shaped eyes that looked at her. ‘This is the first time you have looked at me properly today’ he commented. There was no judgement or resentment in his voice it was just a statement of fact. ‘I might not eat like a princess, but there are some things I know how to do as a princess and I know that looking at you the wrong way might cost me my life’ Soheon tried to state this as flatly as the prince had done but she couldn’t contain the quiver at the end of it. The prince shot up from his seat and moved beside her, she moved with him their eyes never breaking contact. ‘Listen to me, I will never do anything to hurt you. You will soon be my wife and even though I don’t have your heart yet, you have mine’ Soheon scoffed at this. She knew the prince was lying about that. She knew that he had no feelings for her just like she had no feelings for him. She was his possession which was why he showed his ‘caring side’ but Soheon knew that was all fake. ‘You don’t have to lie to me Won. I’ll be a good wife, just please don’t lie to me’ it seemed that Won Jeong had accepted the fact that he was caught in a lie. He sighed and let go of her hands, returning to his seat quietly. ‘I know we don’t like each other all that much, but we’re getting married soon. Wouldn’t it be better if we, you know, got along better at least?’ he addressed his eyes not leaving his bowl of rice. ‘I guess we can try’ Soheon answered hesitantly. Won Jeong muttered something to his bowl which Soheon was unable to hear ‘I’m sorry, what did you say?’ she questioned. His eyes shot up to her and he cleared his throat softly before speaking a slight shade of pink on his cheeks. ‘Will you go on a walk with me?’ his voice was still soft and low but Soheon could clearly hear what he was asking. Her heart shouldn’t be speeding up at the question because they both knew it was more like a business transaction, making both their lives a little easier. Yet there was this little sparkle of hope twinkling in the Prince’s eyes. Soheon couldn’t help the little blush that coloured her face when she replied ‘Yes, I would love to’._

In the days following up to this date the prince had been in an incredible mood. He greeted her both mornings and evenings. He even brought her a flower the other day, say he picked it up on the way because it reminded him of her. He seemed like a teenage boy in love, yet Soheon knew better than to trust this façade. The prince had always been more selfish and possessive than his stance let him believe. She knew this because as kids you don’t hide who you truly are until someone tells you off about it. He always wanted what other people had and would stop at nothing in order to get it. Soheon felt the same right now. Ever since she had confessed to him that her heart had belonged to someone else, he had been acting up. He was a lot nicer to her, complimenting her appearance, trying to make her blush. One time at lunch he even boldly let his hand slide up her thigh during a luncheon. When she had looked at him questioningly he had whispered in her ear ‘I can’t wait until you’re officially mine’ I send chills down Soheon’s spine. Not the ones that were sparked by arousal of such a move. No, they were the chills of fear, not knowing what he would do to her once she officially became his possession. Yet sometimes she couldn’t help but smile at his antics of trying to win her heart. Her heart itself wasn’t working with her either. Sometimes it felt like the prince might be able to mend the wound left in her heart by Jonghyun’s death. The boyish grin that would colour his face whenever he felt embarrassed or was playful made her stomach flip. It was a dangerous slope but, especially at times when the grieve was bad, she would let herself get swept away by the prince and tried to imagine a fairy tale ending for them. ‘Thank you, Yixing, you always save the day’ Soheon pulled him into an embrace and ran out to meet Won Jeong at the palace. ‘Princesses don’t run’ Yixing shouted after her and she quickly changed her pace. She had no idea why she was feeling so excited about a simple walk around the gardens. Maybe it was because it reminded her of an easier time when both Won Jeong and Soheon weren’t bothered by duty and marriage but just friends who shared their deepest thoughts on walks through the garden. The guards wouldn’t let her inside the palace as she was not an official member of the royal family yet, so she waited on the steps for him. The weather had turned colder lately, signalling the arrival of Winter. She felt slightly embarrassed by the rejection of entrance, so she kept her head low with every passing person making sure they didn’t see her face, though her clothes left little to imagine about her status.

It took the prince a few minutes before he came out and greeted her. He didn’t apologise for making her wait in such an embarrassing state in the cold which upset her a little. They silently walked to the gardens, aware of the eavesdropping staff that would run around outside. They never showed their real thoughts to each other unless they were in the privacy of their own home or in the palace’s gardens. The gardens were a safe place because any member outside the royal family had to be invited into the garden to be allowed to enter. Failing to do so could cost the person its life, depending on the King’s mood that day. Won Jeong hated his father. Regardless of his disinterest in the position of King, he felt that the King was a malicious ruler, choosing to instil fear instead of faith into his subjects. They fought over it a lot during their bi-weekly meetings. Lately the King had fallen ill, and it seemed like that occurrence put some peace in to the Prince’s mind. The one who would take the throne in case of his death would be Won Jeong’s older brother Yi Je, who seemed like the polar opposite of Soheon’s future husband. Yi Je was a gentle and kind man with a warm heart towards anyone, no matter what their status. This was much to the displeasure of the king who preferred Won Jeong as heir to the throne because of their similar characters. Though Won Jeong didn’t agree with instilling fear all the time, he did recognise the effect it had and the way it could speed up some difficult processes. Won Jeong had made it clear though that he wasn’t interested in the throne, that he just wanted a peaceful life with a wife and children. The king had reluctantly agreed in the past, mainly since Yi Je was born as the first heir to the throne.

When they entered the gardens, the stress seemed to disappear from Won Jeong’s face and Soheon recognised the little boy whom she befriended in it again. She smiled lightly at the memories of past walks through the garden. Though she had been but thirteen at the time Soheon was already being groomed into a woman worthy of the title as princess. As a game they started their conversations politely, addressing each other in the correct terms and never speaking out of line. As the day moved on and they felt more comfortable with each other their speech towards each other started to become less formal. Won Jeong was the first to notice this fact. ‘Do you fancy me, since you’re speaking so informally’ the shock on Soheon’s face must have been prominent because soon Won Jeong was rolling on the floor laughing until he cried. ‘Is this bad?’ Soheon asked hesitantly knowing she might be scolded by both her mother and her teacher for speaking out of way to a prince. ‘Nah’ he called after he had wiped the tears of his face ‘I don’t like formal speech that much anyways’ he patted her back softly as to comfort her unease. She nodded and their playfulness towards each other had continued. A lot had changed over the years they were forced back into speaking formally to each other and both of them didn’t dare to speak out of order. Yet, for the first time in what seemed like forever, the playfulness had returned to the Prince’s face and Soheon wondered why they hadn’t gone on walks like these before.  ‘I missed this’ Soheon commented lightly earning a frown from the prince, who was blissfully unaware of the change in his demeanour. ‘Missed what?’ he had inquired. ‘Us, walking in these gardens, away from the duty, relaxed and careless’ Soheon sighed feeling a little uneasy still confessing those feelings. Her warm breath had fogged the air and she pulled her coat up to protect her from the cold. The Prince had also turned his attention to the clear sky and sighed contently ‘I guess I missed it too’.

‘Do you remember how we used to share our deepest darkest fears and desires on these walks?’ Soheon questioned out loud. The prince looked at her and for a split second she feared she might have over stepped a line, but his gaze turned into a warm smile as he nodded. ‘So, Prince Won Jeong, what do you fear most in this moment?’ she dared to meet the prince’s gaze trying to find the real answer behind those hazelnut brown eyes. ‘Frankly, you do’ he uttered. Soheon felt a wave of shock run through her body. The prince’s biggest fear was her? She wasn’t scary? She was no match against the prince in any means, what did he mean with this? ‘Care to elaborate?’ she asked puzzled. He grinned widely seeing the confusion on her face. ‘Not in the way of “you might kill me” but more in a way of not recognising who you are anymore and being afraid we’re never going to be compatible, even though we’re forced to spend the rest of our lives together.’ Another wave of shock ran through her, this time it was the sincerity behind his answer. Soheon couldn’t believe he feared the fact that they might not be happy together. The sincerity threw her off guard and she was speechless for a while, not knowing what to do or say that might ease the worry. She felt a sudden need to take care of him. A hot flash washed over her and Soheon believed it to be from the sheer embarrassment of being rendered speechless. She cleared her throat and continued walking while desperately trying to organise her thoughts into something sensible to say. The prince beat her to it ‘I’m sorry to throw that on you, but in all fairness, you asked’ he grinned easing some of Soheon’s worry. She smiled back faintly her body not catching up with the words. It was as if a cloud of fog had entered her brain and she was struggling to grasp what happened. ‘You are right though. A lot has changed for me since we were younger’ Soheon kept her eyes down breathing deeply hoping the fogginess would disappear. The Prince grabbed her hand in his and held it there, not looking at her but glancing at the path before them. ‘If you’re ready to talk about it, I’m here.’ He commented and seemed to mean it. Soheon smiled and welcomed the warmth of the Prince’s hands. It started to snow, thick white flakes falling from the sky and for a moment the world seemed to stand still. Won Jeong held out his free hand to catch the white substance falling from the sky with a childlike wonder in his eyes. He smiled contently at the event. ‘You know what this means right?’ Soheon suggested assuming the prince was aware of the superstition linked to the first snowfall. He, apparently, was not as his eyes grew wide with confusion and shock. ‘What does it mean?’ he asked with the same childlike wonder he had when he was watching the phenomenon. ‘If you are with someone you like during the first snowfall, then true love will blossom between you’ Soheon explained. Soheon tried to smile but suddenly the world seemed to spin around her and the last thing she remembered was feeling Won Jeong’s arms around her lifting her from the ground.

It turned out that Soheon had fallen ill in that moment. She had quite a high fever and slipped in and out of consciousness for two full days. It seemed that Won Jeong had stayed by her side most of the time as his voice had been a consistent element in her conscious periods. She would feel his fingers carefully removing stray hairs from her face, she felt him dab a cold cloth against her forehead to get her temperature down. Soheon had also smelled the boiling of wine, knowing it was probably to distil the Devil’s Bit to help get her fever down even more. Yi Je stormed into the room, his cloak trailing behind him ‘What do you think you’re doing Won Jeong? You have other places to be’ he snarled. Won Jeong put the freshly cooled cloth on Soheon’s forehead and slowly turned to his brother. ‘My future wife is ill, there’s no other place I need to be than right by her side’ he had commented before turning back to his fiancée. ‘The Gungnyeo can take care of that. I need you to come with me to visit father’ his brother commanded. ‘Yi Je’ Won Jeong started ‘I have visited father. He doesn’t want me there unless I take the throne instead of you and I won’t do that’ his voice was a mere whisper by the end of it. ‘Won, Please?’ his brother had begged but the younger shook his head. ‘If I go with you it means I accept the throne’ he stammered softly. The quiver clear in his voice now. He looked at his older brother the pain evident in his eyes. ‘Do you know what it means if I accept?’ Won Jeong had asked his older brother who shook his head. Of course, he didn’t know. He was raised to be on the throne to be the one to inherit it when father dies. He doesn’t know what it entails to be second in line. ‘It means I will have to kill you’ Won Jeong whispered. His brother’s eyes had grown wide with terror. ‘You as the heir of the throne have a choice of letting those ‘below you’ live but I can’t allow someone who has a birth right to the throne to jeopardise that position if I am king, so I will be forced to kill you’ the younger explained. ‘But father is ill, we need to take care of him’ Yi Je hesitated. ‘the Gungnyeo can take care of that’ Won Jeong reminded. Yi Je sighed deeply and sat down next to his brother who was still holding Soheon’s hand in his. ‘You really care about her, huh?’ he observed. Won Jeong nodded ‘Yeah, she quite unexpectedly warmed my icy heart’ he smiled glancing over at his fiancé who stirred lightly in her sleep. He grabbed the cloth from her forehead to refresh it once more in the bowl of water next to the bed. His brother watching his every move in awe. ‘I’m scared Won’ the older brother suddenly confessed. Won Jeong turned to him in confusion silently encouraging him to go on ‘I don’t think I’m ready for the throne, maybe father is right, maybe you should take it’ he babbled the nerves clearly audible in his voice. Won Jeong grabbed his hand and forced his brother to look at him ‘You will be a great King, Yi Je. I will be right next to you if you want me to be. However, I can’t fulfil the request you ask of me now. I hope you understand. Please tell the king my fiancé is also ill and give him my sincerest apologies.’ By the mention of the king all emotion left Won Jeong’s voice. His brother just nodded and stood up to leave the room. ‘I’ll send him your regards, please take care of Soheon well’ he said dutifully bowing lightly before closing the door behind him. Won Jeong sighed loudly letting his body heave forward so his head was on the matrass. ‘I’m scared too, Yi Je’ he muttered into the fabric.


	6. Chapter Six

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Enjoy this unedited mess. I wanted to upload toady!
> 
> Happy Birthday to me!

**South Korea 2018**

Sian opens her eyes and remembers immediately where she is and what had happened. She glances over at the clock 2:43 AM and gets up from the bed softly, the room reeks of sex and stale alcohol. She walks over to the window and opens the door to the balcony quietly. She grabs a small carton from her bag, pulling out a small paper stick. She lights the cigarette and inhales deeply, feeling the smoke coat the inside of her lungs. It oddly calms her down. She sits down and pulls her knees up to her chest. she realises that she’s not wearing much on this chilly end of summer night, just an oversized t-shirt and a light jumper that she just found on the floor. She glances over to the bed. The male figure stirs a little and moves to lie on his back, before continuing to breathe deeply and steadily. His toned body only half covered by the thin sheets. She takes another drag of the little cancer stick. She knows she shouldn’t be smoking. she quit a long time ago, but always kept a pack of cigarettes in her bag. It’s probably there to keep herself in check but today has been different. Everything has been so different ever since those dreams started and that man walked into her life. Who is he? He seemed to look straight through all her carefully build up walls. He tore down in mere seconds what she spent years carefully building. It’s like he knew exactly who she was, so how come she has never seen him before that day in the office. He looks absolutely beautiful and she was sure that she would have remembered his face. Then again there have been so many men in the past few months. She feels a warm salty tear roll down her face and scoffs. ‘Of course, now I’m crying’ she thinks. Where was this when she needed it. Why wasn’t she crying during the break up, where were her tears when he burned their pictures in anger. Why now, after something she’s been doing over and over for the past three months. Why him, after so many different men that she shared a bed with. She carefully pushes the cigarette bud into the ash tray, a soft hissing sound erupts when the burning end meets the tiny pool of rain water that lingers in the ash tray. She quickly wipes her face with her sleeves and draws a ragged breath before walking inside and closing the door behind her. Sian sits on the bed and carefully studies the face of the sleeping man in it. He looks even more beautiful when sleeping. Strands of his raven hair cover his face and she feels the urge to push them back. She doesn’t touch him though. Instead she turns around and pulls her knees up to her face again, draping her arms around her legs as if she could hold herself together like this. The tears had returned, and she gave up on trying to wipe them away. She placed her forehead on her knees hoping it might steady her. The silence in the room was deafening. Apart from steady breathing next to her, her quiet sobs and the soft sounds of stirring bedsheets as he turns, there is not a sound in the room. She suddenly feels like the silence is suffocating her and she tries to draw deeper breaths to calm her panicking heart. A pair of arms suddenly wraps around her and pulls her towards him, into his chest. She lets him pull her down, too panicked to put up a fight. His face lies in the crook of her neck and she can feel his breath drape across her skin, warm and steady. His hands are placed firmly around her arms and his thumbs draw lazy circles on the skin of her arm. There she lets herself fall apart in his arms, not fighting the tears anymore and letting the sobs move her body against his. They just sit there in the dark. Him holding her while she sobs quietly over losing the love of her life. He doesn’t know that with Eunhyuk cheating she lost someone so dear to her. He doesn’t know that she has slept with dozens of other men, desperate to find some form of connection again. They only properly met a few hours ago and here he is holding her while she lets out the most vulnerable side of herself. He hums softly against her skin and occasionally places a butterfly kiss on her shoulder. The tears fall from her face unto his arms but neither of them moves to wipe them away. The crying seems to stop after a while and she takes a deep breath to ground herself and place herself back into reality. The soft but firm grip around her arms releases and the man who held her lets go. She immediately misses the close contact and intimacy and turns around to face him. ‘I’m sorry’ she started but he shakes his head. His hands find her face and he carefully cleans up the left-over tears. He lies down on his back and motions for her to come lie on his chest.  She quietly obliges and places her head on his firm torso. The melody of his heartbeat against her eardrums calms her down. His skin is warm and pleasantly fragrant and with him lazily drawing figures on her waist and hips, she sinks back into a deep slumber.

When she wakes up again her head feels heavy and there’s a throbbing pain behind her eyes. Sian raises her hand slowly to massage her temples. A classic hangover. She glances over to Minseok who is still soundly sleeping next to her, slowly breathing into his pillow as his raven hair covers his face. Sian knows she shouldn’t stay here. She let herself cry in his arms, that was enough embarrassment for a one-night stand. She got up from the bed realizing she was not wearing her own clothes, but the ones she found on the floor last night. She quickly and quietly skipped through the room in search for her own clothes. When she had put her dress back on she realized that she had to face the complete walk of shame, as she gave her coat to Baekhyun the night before. She quickly made her way to the front door, not daring to look back, afraid with the sight of him she might compel herself to stay. As her movements quickened and she was almost out of the door she realized the severity of her hangover. As she bent down to put her heels back on her stomach churned in protest. ‘Just get yourself home, Sian, please, without embarrassing yourself more’ she told herself as she made her way outside. Her feet were still sore from walking on those heels the evening before, but Sian was determined to keep her pride. A block away from her apartment she loses all of that pride by emptying the remaining contents of her stomach in the bushes of someone’s garden. Once she’s finished she cleans her mouth with the back of her hand. She grunts loudly pulling herself up to walk the last few meters to her apartment. Getting inside Sian lets herself fall on the bed, not bothering to get out of her dress. She felt awful both physically and emotionally. It seemed like this man, Minseok, had worked his way into her brain. Ever since she had sneaked out of his apartment he had been present in her mind. The way he had looked at her the night before had stirred something in her. Maybe it was because she ran into Eunhyuk that evening. How he had been there for her when she was falling apart, as if his touches and kisses were the glue she needed to be put back together. She rolled over and plugged her phone into the charger, its screen lighting up immediately. I seemed Baekhyun had called her a few times this morning. He also sent a bunch of messages

[Baekhyunnie]:

**Thank you for taking me home yesterday, I owe you**

**Did you have fun too?**

**I bet you went home with that handsome dude**

**OMG you did, didn’t you?**

**Was he ‘good’ to you?**

**Hahahahahahaha get it, ‘good’?**

**Okay, I’ll stop, just let me know if you’re alive.**

**I still have your coat, want it back?**

 

[Sian]:

**I’m alive, will tell more when the hangover is bearable xx**

Sian put the phone back on her nightstand and rolled on her back. Grimacing at the struggle her stomach was giving her. She quickly got off the bed and ran towards her next-door bathroom, getting to the toilet just in time. The heaving was intense and tiring since there was nothing left in her stomach to throw up. After a few minutes of dry heaving above the porcelain bowl Sian felt okay enough to move back to the bed. She sat on the edge carefully glancing over at her phone. She realized that with her leaving, she didn’t leave her number behind. So, there was no way for her to contact him again, or him to contact her. Maybe that was what was for the best, she thought, yet Sian couldn’t shake the feeling of missing him, especially now that she was feeling so shitty. Her phone started buzzing and the screen showed her it was Baekhyun. She grunted a little hoping she wouldn’t feel the need to throw up during their conversation. ‘I told you I’d call you when I feel better’ she almost shouted into the phone as she picked up. A light chuckle was heard from the other end of the line. ‘Good day to you too sunshine’ he mused, clearly less affected by alcohol than she was. There was ruckus audible on Baekhyun’s side of the call ‘Where are you’ Sian asked without caring how it sounded. ‘I’m at work, seemed one of the part-timers got ill and they called me to fill in’ Sian opened her eyes in shock. It was her café how could she not know what was going on. ‘I’m sorry’ she started but Baekhyun rudely interrupted her. ‘Yeah, yeah. You can make it up to me by not getting mad at what I’m about to tell you’ he started, and Sian felt a hundred different scenarios cross her mind. ‘Baek, what did you do?’ she said sternly, and a little giggle was heard on the other end of the line. ‘I might have given the handsome guy your address’ a silence fell between them. ‘Sian?’ Baekhyun squealed on the other side ‘I’m sorry, he just came in and was all nice and charming and said you left something he wanted to return and when I told him that you weren’t in because you weren’t feeling well he demanded your address, he’s very handsome and… well I gave him your coat to give back to you so you won’t have to worry about that either’ Baekhyun babbled his voice getting higher by the second. ‘I’m not mad, Baekhyun, but you owe me dinner’ Sian clarified and hung up the phone.

Not soon after she had pressed the red button on her phone did her doorbell ring. Sian rolled her eyes, not really wanting to deal with the situation. She hoped he might go away if she didn’t respond so she made her way into the bathroom to clean her face a bit and brush her teeth just in case he was really persistent. She quickly fixed her hair in a messy bun before exiting the bathroom. The ringing of the doorbell had stopped, and Sian sighed in relief. Thank god he wasn’t that persistent. She felt a bit silly for brushing her teeth and fixing her face in such a hurry for nothing. She was about to make her way into the kitchen when there was a knock on her door. She cautioned herself towards the wooden frame, unable to keep her heart from speeding up. Is that him? How did he get inside the building? Why was he so persistent on showing up at her house? She saw her hand shaking slightly when she grabbed the door handle and slowly lowered it. She let the wooden frame open lightly and was met with the man she had spent the night before with. ‘Minseok’ she uttered softly. Her coat was draped on one of his arms while the other was holding a box with a bag hanging further up the arm. ‘I heard you weren’t feeling well so I brought you some soup’ he announced softly. He looked a little shy, very unlike the flirty confident lover he had been the night before. Sian silently stepped aside to allow the man to enter her apartment and he quickly made his way inside. He asked where the kitchen was by lifting the box in his hand a little higher, Sian pointed to her tiny kitchen and he made his way inside. He started rummaging her cupboards in search of a bowl and cutlery. He moved around the house as if he was the one paying the monthly rent instead of Sian. She felt like a stranger in her own home. Soft shouts of victory when an item was found were the only thing audible between the both of them. Sian couldn’t help but just stare at him in awe.

‘Why are you here?’ she finally managed to ask. The boy looked at her, he seemed like a complete stranger in this moment. His hair was messy and soft around his face nothing like the styled look from the night before. His eyes darted through the room, a sign of nervousness, yet here he was, bold enough to come to her apartment after a one-night stand. ‘You forgot something, and I just wanted to return it’ he finally answered shrugging his shoulders a little. Sian cocked an eyebrow at him ‘Yeah? Tell me, what did I forget?’ she knew he was lying in this moment. ‘Your coat’ he pointed to the fabric draped over his arm and Sian sighed ‘Stop lying to me Minseok, I know I gave that coat to Baekhyun Yesterday so there’s no way I could have left it at your place’ Sian was starting to get irritated by his lies. Why would he make up these stories to her? What was the point? He sighed in defeat but moved his head up once more to look at her. He pushed the bowl of soup towards Sian and gave her a spoon. ‘You were not feeling well so I wanted to make you feel better’ he reasoned. Sian let another frustrated sigh leave her body and she placed her spoon on the table forcefully ‘Minseok, I know Baekhyun told you I wasn’t feeling well. Please stop lying’ her tone wasn’t as angry as she would’ve liked, it was more that she pitied him and whatever reason he had for lying to her so much. He lowered his head and mumbled something into his chest ‘Sorry what?’ she motioned for him to speak up. ‘I just wanted to see you again’ Sian sighed in relief this time, this seemed a genuine answer. ‘Was that so hard now?’ Sian cooed, and it seemed to revive some of Minseok’s confidence as he finally dared to look at her again. He shook his head softly and stepped towards her. ‘I’ve wanted to do this ever since I walked in’ he placed his hands around her face softly stroking her cheeks with his thumbs and connected their lips in a kiss. Sian placed her hands on his chest and softly pushed him away. ‘Minseok, I…’ She started but Minseok backed off quickly and started apologizing profusely. ‘I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have done that. I’m so so sorry’ every step Sian took towards him to comfort him he would step back until his back hit the fridge and he had nowhere to go. Sian grabbed his hands. ‘Minseok, listen to me’ She demanded as she made him look at her. ‘it’s not that I didn’t want to kiss you. It’s just a bit strange for me to see someone again after a one-night stand okay, relax I’m not angry’ the boy looked like a frightened puppy and Sian couldn’t help but laugh at the contrast of the man she had met the night before. The laughter created the opportunity for both of them to relax a little. ‘You thought that was just a one-night stand?’ Minseok eventually commented the disappointment clearly audible in his voice. ‘I guess, I don’t know. I’ve been having those for a while, so I automatically assume it is’ Sian explained trying to make her actions sound less heartless. ‘It’s not that I didn’t want to see you again, not at all. It’s just, you show up here at my apartment all of a sudden. It all seems a bit quick’ Sian confessed. Minseok cleared his throat taking another cautious step back. ‘You’re right’ he said ‘It is rather quick’ his head then shot up as if he had had an epiphany. ‘I know we can’t go back anymore, and it might get a little awkward, especially since we already slept together, but please, let me try and make this right again.’ Sian looked at the man curiously. He was right about the fact that there was no turning back time. Honestly, she didn’t regret sleeping with him, even though it might have been caused by unresolved emotions for another man. It had felt different than with all the men she had been with in the past months. It had felt more real, more grounded as if Minseok had provided the feeling of home she was so desperate for.

‘Let me take you on a date’ Minseok proposed. Sian glanced at him in confusion. She had been in relationships with a few men in her life, but never before had she been asked out on a proper date. She opened her mouth to reply but closed it again when the words didn’t seem to come. She didn’t know how to respond. ‘Right now?’ she finally asked and Minseok burst into a fit of giggles at her answer. ‘Well, considering you wanted to take it slow and the fact that you’re not feeling well, maybe another time’ he looked hopeful and almost child-like. She allowed herself to really look at the man standing in her tiny apartment. He seemed a completely different man from the one she shared a bed with. It was almost alarming to Sian, but she tried not to overthink too much. ‘Let’s exchange numbers then so we can set a different date’ she advised. They both took out their phones and exchanged their numbers. ‘What’s in the bag’ Sian pointed at the white plastic bag that was sitting on the counter. She had finally picked up her spoon again to eat the soup that was made for her. ‘Oh, just some things to make you feel better’ Minseok shrugged ‘Water, painkillers, chocolate, a film and some scented candles’ Sian almost jumped towards the bag, scented candles. She had always wanted those but never had money to spare to buy those things, because she didn’t really need them and didn’t want to risk not being able to pay her rent that month. ‘Woah, they smell amazing’ Sian exclaimed her nose inside the bag of candles. Minseok smiled ‘They are my favourite because they smell like marshmallows’ he explained while Sian searched for a lighter to light one of the candles. Soon the room was filled with the scent of roasted Marshmallows and it made Sian feel strangely happy, her hangover mostly forgotten.

‘Thank you’ she finally beamed having emptied the contents of the bag on the counter. They were the exact things that Minseok had mentioned and Sian felt a little funny about having someone take care of her like that. It felt, nice. Minseok then apologized again for barging in like that and told Sian he would take his leave and hoped she would feel better soon. It was almost strange how formal he suddenly sounded again, a different man from the one giddily asking her out on a date after a heartfelt confession. He turned around the second he stepped out of the door to face Sian. His hands found her face quickly and quietly and Sian could almost taste him on her lips, even though he kept his distance still. ‘Can I kiss you?’ he asked, he had been serious about making things right which was why he was asking for her permission. Sian felt tempted to give in and taste him again like she had done the night before. She felt a crimson blush make her way up to her face at the memory of the previous night. ‘Tempting’ she mused ‘but maybe save it for the date’ a disappointed sigh left Minseok’s body, but he nodded, taking his hands away from her face again. ‘You’re right. I should save it’ and then he smiled at her. It had been the same smile from the night before and Sian felt her heart pick up speed rapidly. ‘Thanks again for all the stuff, I feel better already’ she complimented as a sad sort of apology for rejecting the kiss just now. ‘It was nothing’ he had assured ‘Go get some sleep and I’ll let you know when we’ll go on that date’ he winked, and Sian could hear herself gasp at the action. It was such a simple thing, but her body suddenly seemed hyper aware of the distance between them and the extreme desire to want to close said distance. She was desperate to feel his skin against hers again, but her morals were stronger, and she swallowed thickly, hoping the sudden arousal would subside quickly. She watched him walk away until he was out of sight and flung herself inside again. She made her way back to bed, her head spinning with thoughts of Minseok. Thoughts of going on a date with Minseok as she drifted to sleep.


	7. Chapter Seven

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**Joseon 1400**

‘Thank you Doctor’ Soheon muttered meekly as she put her undershirt back on. ‘Is there anything I can do to speed up my recovery?’ she inquired taking a small sip from the cup next to her bed, and the doctor smiled warmly at her. ‘Just plenty of rest and room for the baby to grow’ the liquid exited through her nose and send her into a coughing fit. The doctor stepped closer and patted her back softly ‘baby?’ she squealed while wiping the excess liquid off her face, and the doctor nodded. He finally seemed to have caught on with the fact that this was completely new to Soheon’s ears and crouched down next to her bed. ‘You are with child, your Highness, almost six weeks along now. It’s still very much in the early stages and a lot can still go wrong, but all the signs are there’ he explained calmly and the shock on Soheon’s face grew. If she was pregnant now that would mean that the only possible father could be Jonghyun. She instinctively grabbed her belly thinking about how a piece of him was now a part of her and tears filled her eyes. The doctor stood up to leave but Soheon grabbed his wrist. ‘Please doctor, don’t tell my fiancé just yet. I don’t want him to worry too much when there’s still a chance that things might not work out’ she lied quickly understanding the severity of the fact that the baby’s father was not her husband to be. The doctor gave an understanding smile and nodded. ‘A baby out of wedlock is a dangerous thing, especially when your fiancé is a prince’ he mused ‘I will keep your secret your highness, until you are ready’ he bowed politely and left the room. A mere seconds later her fiancé stormed in ‘What did he say, are you going to die? How ill are you? What do I need to do?’ The worry was clear in his voice and Soheon couldn’t keep the smile from her face. She gestured for him to sit down next to her and grabbed his hand ‘I’m fine Won, it was just a general bug that has been going around. With plenty of rest and lots of affection I should be up and running in no time’ she touched his nose affectionately. He had been with her all through her fever dreams and embarrassing moments of emptying the contents of her stomach everywhere during this illness. She couldn’t help but feel a little warmth in her heart for him, he was really trying to be an exemplary husband to be.  She vaguely remembers him and his brother talking about how the king had fallen ill and once she had fallen ill the rumours of a coup had spread around the palace. ‘How’s your father?’ Soheon asked mainly to divert the topic from her own health. The man’s face hardened at the mention of his father and Soheon could tell that he didn’t really want to go into it too much. ‘He’s mostly the same. Still can’t see him because he has made up his mind about wanting me on the throne, especially now that people think there’s a coup. Yi Je is taking it badly though. He doesn’t dare to visit his father alone and no one dares to visit the king in this state, thinking it’s contagious and mother blames Yi Je for the fact that I’m not visiting. The only ones that visits him are mother and the doctor’ He let a laboured sigh fall from his lips. Soheon hummed at his answer squeezing the hand of the prince a little in understanding. There was a silence enveloping the room. It wasn’t uncomfortable, at least not as you would expect it to be with such a heavy topic, but this was almost standard topic of conversation. Within the royal house the topic of life and death was discussed often and openly. Who died within the family was important, outside of it not so much. Soheon couldn’t make herself get used to the topic no matter the frequency of it. Yet, she never showed signs of her discomfort. Which is what a princess ought to do, at least, that’s what her mother had taught her. She had said that if you show you’re uncomfortable with such topics, that it shows a weakness and that people would use that against you eventually. She looked again at her fiancé, he seemed older now than she remembers him. ‘I could go with him once I’m well enough to walk again’ the princess to be offered. There was a spark of hope in the prince’s eyes, but it was quickly replaced with sternness. ‘Absolutely not, I don’t want the king persuading you into this as well’ he said thinking that his stern tone would be enough to end the conversation. He apparently didn’t know Soheon well enough yet because Soheon was determined to do something in return for the prince. It might also have something to do with the intense guilt that was eating Soheon alive now that she knew she was pregnant with Jonghyun’s child, But Soheon would never confess this out loud. She had to be an exemplary wife if he was to accept a child conceived out of wedlock. Especially when it wasn’t his. She grabbed his hands and made the prince look at her ‘Please let me do this for you, you’ve done so much for me.’ She pleaded knowing fully well how her pleas would affect the prince now. After a few seconds he sighed in defeat ‘Fine, but not until you’ve fully recovered’ he grunted and pushed her back into the bed.   

‘So, you’re really all better? You’re not going to faint on me?’ Yixing had asked holding Soheon lightly by the shoulders as if she was made of glass and could break at any moment. Soheon smiled at her best friend, she hadn’t seen him in days as Won Jeong had cared for her when she was sick, and no visitors were allowed. He must have worried a lot in that time. ‘I’m alright Yixing. But there is something I do have to tell you, but I need you to swear not to talk about this to anyone, and I really mean anyone. It could cost me my life’ Yixing’s eyes grew wide and they looked like they might pop out of their sockets if Soheon didn’t explain soon. She sat the both of them down on one of the stone benches in the garden. Soheon invited him there because she needed to be sure that no one else heard this story. She sighed deeply vaguely wondering how she got herself into this mess. ‘I’m pregnant’ she announced tamely, and her voice was far from happy. Yixing caught on right away ‘It’s Jonghyun’s, isn’t it?’ he cautioned and Soheon nodded, feeling the tears sting behind her eyes. Yixing pulled her into his chest and enveloped his warm arms around her. She let herself sob into his chest for a second, remembering they had been like this not too long ago when she visited Jonghyun’s grave. She wanted to be happy about this pregnancy, she really did. After all it was a small miracle that she now had a part of Jonghyun growing inside her. Yet, she was so afraid that Won Jeong wouldn’t be understanding and that the child would be worse off if he ever found out. Yixing took her hands in his and started playing with her fingers. ‘I know you’re scared of the future now Soheon’ he addressed seeming to read Soheon’s mind ‘But I think that if it gets the chance, this baby might be the thing that connects you and Won Jeong’ Soheon looked at her best friend in confusion. How could the child of another man be a binding factor in another relationship? Wouldn’t that be the thing that drives most relationship apart? ‘A child from another man that had my whole heart is not going to help our relationship, Yixing’ she finally blurted letting her hands fall from his into her own lap. A small hum made her look back at the boy ‘Correct me if I’m wrong, but I feel like Won Jeong isn’t the brightest. I mean I know he’s really smart but not when it comes to the workings of the female physique. So, I guess that if you tell him it’s his that he’ll believe it’ Soheon looked at her friend closely, was he being serious right now? Sure, he was right about Won Jeong being completely oblivious to anything to do with the female body. Yet, Soheon knew he wasn’t dumb enough to not understand that sex needs to happen for a child to be conceived. She raised an eyebrow at her friend indicating a flaw in his plan. The little space between his nose and forehead crunched together in confusion. ‘I’m pretty sure he’s smart enough to know that sexual intercourse needs to happen to conceive a baby’ Soheon explained but with saying that she realised the solution to her problem. She had to sleep with Won Jeong. It was such a simple clear-cut solution that Soheon almost laughed at it. Why hadn’t see realised this before? It seemed that the same domino of reasoning had happened in Yixing’s head as he simply said ‘Well, then you need to make sure to bed your future husband, soon’. She smiled at her friend feeling as if a massive burden had been lifted off her shoulders. They made their way back to Soheon’s living quarters where Yi Je was waiting for her to make they visit to the king.

 

Won Jeong was tired, no he was exhausted. He had spent five nights in a row caring for his fiancé. Making sure her temperature was stable, and she could sleep through the night comfortably. She was getting better now, talking a lot more and eating well. There were no visitors allowed until the doctor had given the all clear, which was this morning. Word had spread around the castle over the state of Won Jeong’s father and the gossip about who would take the throne had started as well. His mother came to visit him once during Soheon’s illness. She hadn’t been happy with his actions and had been very vocal about it. Calling him a terrible son and a disgrace to the royal family. Won Jeong had chosen to care for his fiancé over visiting his ill father. ‘It’s always been your greatest weakness’ she had commented as Won Jeong changed the damp cloth on Soheon’s face for the umpteenth time that night, paying no attention to the woman whom he calls his mother as he dips the cloth into the bowl of cold water. When Won Jeong had looked at her eventually with a glance of question she had mutter ‘Love. It’s your weakness. It is with your brother and now it is with her’ she had pointed at the motionless frame of his wife-to-be. ‘She has a name, mother, and if I remember correctly it was you who set me up with her. Also, father gave me no choice but to stay away. He told me that if I visited him again that that would mean I accept his offer to make me king instead, which is exactly why I’ve stayed away from him’ he shot his mother a glance and for a fraction of a second she seemed to sympathise with him, as if she finally realised the struggle he had gone through all his life. It didn’t last long as the icy look quickly returned to her face. Won Jeong had grown used to that look. It had been the look she gave him ever since he threatened his parents when he was just a little boy.

_It had been an agonisingly long winter and Won Jeong couldn’t wait for spring to return to the land. He was longing for warmer temperatures, the singing of the birds and the sprouting of new life throughout the palace gardens. Even though he was only six years old, Won Jeong was already very wise and smart for his age. He had surpassed his brother’s level a long time ago but purposefully made mistakes in his lessons to stay close to his brother. Won Jeong and Yi Je had been inseparable ever since they were old enough to walk. Yi Je had always been a sickly child catching every disease possible but Won Jeong never gave up on him and kept believing he would get better. He loved Yi Je with everything he had. With Yi Je being sick so often Won Jeong was forced to spend a lot of his time alone in the gardens of the palace. It was nice and quiet there and none of the palace staff was telling him to walk straight or refrain from running. In these gardens he could be himself, but he missed Yi Je terribly. It had finally been a good week for Yi Je, he was getting better, and the doctor said it would be good for him to go outside for a while every day. Won Jeong could barely contain his excitement when he dragged Yi Je to the gardens at the first signs of Spring. ‘Look Yi Je, it’s really cool here and there’s no one to tell you off if you don’t walk or sit properly’ the little boy had beamed. Yi Je had smiled but it wasn’t completely sincere. The older boy wasn’t sure if he should tell his younger brother what had really happened. Yes, he had always fallen ill easily but this time it had been different. This time Yi Je had felt as if he was going to die, and when he overheard his mother talking to the doctor outside his room he realised he had been right to feel that way. ‘It seems the boy was poisoned’ the doctor told his mother who had feigned a shocking gasp. Yi Je knew she wasn’t really shocked because she was the one that had placed the order to put the stuff in his food. He knew this because he had been eavesdropping when his mother was talking to her maid that day. Yi Je had found a way to get under the floors of the castle, which gave him shelter from his nagging teachers but also the opportunity to listen in on conversations in different rooms of the palace. Not that Yi Je always wanted to hear what was being said, because most of the time it was about how problematic he was as an heir and how they should’ve had Won Jeong as a firstborn. He heard his mother talk about the food arrangements to her maid and told her to put something she gave to the maid only in Yi Je’s food and to make absolutely sure that none of it ended up in Won Jeong’s food. The maid had left in a hurry and Yi Je naively believed that what would be put in his food was good for him, like a medicine to cure his illnesses and make him a better son. He believed that his mother only wanted what was best for him, even though everyone else talked badly about him. He had never heard his mother speak badly about him, so she could only want the best for him, right? Well, wrong, because almost immediately after dinner Yi Je had fallen ill again, and this time it had felt so much more severe than all the times he was ill before that. Luckily for him Won Jeong didn’t know about his mother’s evil plan and was aware of the whereabouts of the doctor. He reacted quickly and called the doctor to Yi Je’s room making sure the doctor did everything he could to make Yi Je better. If it wasn’t for his little brother, he wouldn’t be alive today. He looked over at the boy who seemed content in these scenic gardens. ‘Won, I have to tell you something’ Yi Je had decided that Won Jeong needed to know in case his mother might try something like this again and he would fall victim to it too. He sat the boy down on the stone bench next to him and told him everything he knew, apart from the fact that it was his mother who did it. Yi Je didn’t want Won Jeong to have to hate his own mother. ‘I want you to be extra careful now Won Jeong, I want you to use your gungnyeo to taste any food you’re offered before eating it yourself. I don’t want you to get caught up in this too’. The little boy had been quiet throughout the story and his eyes had grown wider and wider as the story progressed. He nodded obediently. Yi Je wasn’t sure if telling him was the right decision, but he wanted his little brother to be extra careful, so he wouldn’t get caught up in this by accident. ‘Are you going to survive?’ Yi Je was taken aback by his little brother’s question. The tears laced the little boy’s voice and eyes and the older one released a strained sigh. He didn’t know if he was going to survive but he wanted to. He wanted to be a good example for his little brother and teach him the ways of the world the way only an older brother can. ‘I don’t know little man, but I’m going to try’ he smiled towards the little boy and ruffled his hair. The younger threw his arms around his older brother’s waist and held him tight. For the next few months Won Jeong refused to eat anything that was given to him by our parents. He had somehow figured out that they were responsible even though Yi Je never told him who did it. Then again, he had always been a clever boy, in most areas that is in some he was still very naïve. Which came to the surface later when mother had finally cracked and begged him to do anything for him if he would just eat. He had told her straight up that she was to do everything in her power to keep Yi Je alive, and that if she failed to do so he would follow his older brother into death soon after. He announced that he wanted Yi Je to be the rightful king as he leads an easy life with a wife and children outside the palace. A collective wave of shock went through the room, but that wasn’t the strangest thing. The strangest thing was how mother’s gaze had changed from lovingly worried to ice cold. Father had always favoured Won Jeong, so mother knew that if she touched him, it wouldn’t just be the end of her children, it would be hers as well and from that day onwards mother had started to hate both her children._

Won Jeong felt a little silly staying up to wait for his fiancé to return, but he had been determined to make their lives together work, even if it was only to spite his mother. She set up the marriage between them thinking Won Jeong would never try to care. She had been right for the most of it. Won Jeong wanted to get married just not to a woman his mother picked. It wasn’t Soheon’s fault that he had no interest in her. At least he didn’t until that one night where she had poured her heart out. Confessing that her heart still belonged to another man but that she would work towards loving him as she ought to. Won Jeong hadn’t expected the confession to sting as much as they did. As much as he hates to admit it, it might have been jealousy. But more in a way of ‘someone else was playing with my toy’ it had been clear for a while that Soheon was to marry Won Jeong so technically she was his possession. As far as one could own a living human being. The sincerity in her eyes when she told him she would work towards loving him and being a good wife to him, it’s branded into his brain. Which is probably why he had spent those five nights right by her side. Making sure she was comfortable and praying for the life of him that she would stay alive. He had been pacing up and down the porch for a while now. The night air being quite chilly, even though all signs indicated the upcoming arrival of Spring. When Won Jeong was about to give up and go inside he heard a chuckle in the distance. He saw his fiancé lean heavily on his brother and the same bubbling feeling of jealousy started in his stomach. She was giggling while hanging off his shoulder struggling to put one feet before the other. If he hadn’t felt so jealous he would’ve laughed at the drunken sight of her. His brother shot him a guilty glance. ‘I’m sorry brother, she insisted on also having some of the wine, but I didn’t know she can’t handle her alcohol. She had only one glass, I swear’ he heaved her body over towards the younger who held his future wife firmly upright. The jealousy had subsided a little now that she was on his side again and he thanked his brother before turning to the house to carry his drunk fiancé to bed. Once he had turned around she was facing him and threw her arms around his neck. His hands rested softly on her waist, wondering what she was up to in her drunken state. He cocked an eyebrow in question. She replied by leaning forward and connecting their lips in a sloppy kiss. Her hands wove into his hair as she deepened the kiss. It felt desperate and needy and Won Jeong would be lying if he said it didn’t turn him on. Yet, he was to win her heart, and that wouldn’t work if he would take advantage of her now. He pulled back detaching their lips and muttered her name. She continued placing kisses along his jawline and below his ear before whispering in his ear ‘I want you, Won Jeong, all of you’. The prince was fighting the inner battle of giving in to her advances or to take the high route of politely declining until their wedding night. He admits that the thought of it had crossed his mind a few times. He might not love her, but he is not blind. He can see that Soheon is a beautiful woman that has been taken care of well throughout her life. ‘You’re drunk, Soheon’ he muttered taking a deep breath to calm his overreacting body. She replied by palming him through his trousers. He took in a sharp breath. He hadn’t expected her to be this bold when it came to activities in the bedroom and frankly it turned him on more. ‘Shouldn’t we wait?’ was his next, much weaker, attempt into persuading her to stop. She kissed his lips again needier and more desperate this time. She let go after a while to catch her breath placing her forehead against his. Her eyes were closed as a needy sigh escaped her lips. ‘I want you before that. I want to share passion. I don’t want our first time to be when half the palace is watching us’ her plea was desperate and Won Jeong had no arguments left to stop her, and the way his body was reacting didn’t help him either. She was right that a wedding night as a princess was anything but romantic. It was custom for people closest to the couple to watch during their first intercourse to validate the conception of the possible heir. They had stumbled inside and into Won Jeong’s bedroom. The prince had now fully given in to Soheon’s advances and their kisses became passionate and wanting. Soon clothes were dropping on the floor and the prince couldn’t help but trace his finger over Soheon’s milky skin. She was even more beautiful without clothes and a trace of goose bumps followed his grazing of her delicate skin. He wanted to bathe in this moment, tracing every single inch of her body in curiosity placing a stray kiss here and there. Soheon had other plans and begged the prince to get on with it. He connected their lips passionately and swallowed her moans with it when he entered her. Enchanted by the way her face crunched up in pleasure. He sped up chasing the pleasure in his body. It didn’t last as long as he had hoped but the realisation that she would be his soon suddenly excited him a lot more. He released with a breathy moan and realised his fiancé was crying. He quickly got off her and wrapped one of the blankets around her. ‘I’m so sorry, I shouldn’t have given in. I’m so stupid. Please forgive me’ the desperation of his apology was clear in his voice. Did he mess up all his hard work now by giving in to just a few minutes of arousal? She shook her head quickly and grazed his cheek with her fingers. ‘I’m crying because I’m happy’ she admitted and a wave of relief washed over the prince.  


	8. Chapter Eight

****

**South Korea 2018**

‘I should wait, right? Wait for her to give me the signal that it’s okay. Right? UHG!’ Minseok threw the dishtowel in the sink violently. He disliked not being in control of the situation. She had been so easy that first night but now. It’s been two weeks since he heard from her. Maybe she was waiting for him to give her a sign? He had wanted to text her a place and time to meet the next day but seeing as she had so blatantly refused his kisses the day before he opted to give her some space and wait for her to reach out. It frustrated him as the thoughts of the dreams he had had returns. It had clearly been her in his dreams. She had been the key to get his family to sign over the company to him. The same striking blue eyes, the tone of their voice, even little mannerisms that other people wouldn’t notice on the first meeting. Yet, he couldn’t do anything yet, he had to be a hundred percent sure. He kept paying attention to her from a distance finding the similarities between her and the woman in his dreams. The woman that might solve all his family problems in a heartbeat. He had been lucky enough to also have a dream about that night he officially made his way into her life two weeks ago. It had been the perfect moment to strike. In his dream she went home and had to face her violent ex-boyfriend who had been too drunk to reason with and had tried to rape her. It had taken Minseok years of preparing for that moment. Years of setting the scene making sure it was absolutely perfect for him to interfere in her life without making a complete mess. If he had known she was that easy to get to go home with him, he might have tried a long time ago to save himself the misery of dealing with his hateful family. He picked up his phone, opened the messenger app and started typing.

[Minseok]:

**Hey, are you ready for that date you promised me? ;)**

He quickly pressed the send button before he could change his mind again. He stared at his phone for 15 minutes, waiting for her reply, but nothing came. He threw his phone aside in frustration and let his face fall in his hands. She had been so easy to get into bed that first night, why did it suddenly seem so hard to keep her close to him. He might have taken advantage of the situation for his own profit, but he needed her with him to get the company away from his parents. It wasn’t about love, at least it didn’t seem like it was about love in the dream. She was just by his side, standing next to him as he fought the legal battle to gain control over the company. It wouldn’t be an easy process. There were lots of legal terms that he wasn’t familiar with, but she had been there to help him out. The emotional damage that came with the thought of this legal battle was intense as his late brother’s death was a vital part in his claim for the company’s shares. His parents had always wanted him to inherit the company as he used to obey his parent’s will more than his older brother, but he never wanted to be a part of it before. Then one day Minseok got the phone call that his brother had been found dead in his apartment. He tried investigating it himself as the police wouldn’t give him any clear details sticking to the cause of death as ‘suicide’, and eventually his parents had tried to stop him investigating it any further. They said it was important to leave it all behind them as soon as possible and move on. That’s when Minseok realised that his parents might have something to do with it. He knew his brother like the back of his own hand and he knew for sure that he wasn’t suicidal. For months he looked into it in complete secret, finding small pieces of evidence here and there until one day three years ago he had that dream. This dream told him that a woman would open one of the coffee shops listed under their company’s name and that this woman was to become a vital part in the battle for the company’s shares. He had watched from the other side of the glass as his father made the deal with said woman the next week. She looked exactly like the woman in his dreams but Minseok hadn’t been convinced enough that this simple looking woman was the key to changing his whole life in an instant. A few more dreams followed in the next weeks, each one seemed to indicate a step into the process. Minseok had no idea how long this process was going to take as there was no indication of time in that first dream. He spent three years observing her from afar, never really meddling in her life until that one dream came up where he saw she was beaten up badly and raped by her ex-boyfriend, whom Minseok had then hired into his own company to keep an eye on. He felt like that was an important moment to step in. It was an opportunity he had to pin himself down in her life and start working towards that legal battle.

It was silly how when his brother was still alive, Minseok had no desire whatsoever to own their family company, wanting his brother to be the one dealing with that. Yet now, it was like he needed to get his parents away from the company at any cost. After he tried investigating his brother’s death his parents didn’t want him as head of the company any more, but they realised they couldn’t let him out of it completely, so they gave him some unimportant executive job. He didn’t get why this particular woman was the key to it but seeing that all other things in his dreams had come true he had grown to believe in them. The buzzing of his phone woke him up from his daydreaming. He chuckled lightly at the nickname she had given herself in his phone.

[That-cute-one-night-stand]:

**I’m down. I get off at 6, pick me up?**

Minseok smiled at the message, she seemed eager enough again. Maybe the thinking it would be hard to ‘catch her’ was just all in his head. If anything, he had done everything he could now to lock her down. He just had to see if it had worked the way he planned. He wasn’t sure if he was ready to face the real consequences that came wth his act, but that was something not to worry about right now.

[Minseok]:

**I’ll pick you up at 7 from your house, wear something nice ;)**

He found out the name of her favourite restaurant through her ex Eunhyuk. Apart from being slightly aggressive when drunk he also tends to talk a lot when he’s had a few and one night, Minseok took full advantage of that by asking every single detail about his ex-girlfriend. He told Minseok that she had always longed to go to Ryunique, one of the best restaurants in the city, but that he had never been able to afford it for her let alone get through the waiting list. Minseok dialled a different number and quickly made a reservation for two at the restaurant under his name. He knew there was a waiting list for about a year at this place but being the son of one of the biggest companies in South Korea did have its perks when it came to this.

Minseok had been ready to go for ages now pacing up and down his penthouse living room wishing time would move faster. He glanced over to the window and looked at the city below. The memory of her in front of it still clear in his mind. _‘How do you get to work in the morning’ she had asked. The question had thrown him off. He had been so focussed on forcing himself into her life that he never really took the time to get to know her, to find out what makes her tic. Sure, he was a complete stranger to her at this point, but she wasn’t to him anymore. He had done all those months of research making sure she really was the woman from his dreams and then proceeded to plan out a way to force himself into her life. Which had been tonight and frankly, things were going better than expected. ‘How can you look at it and walk away from it’ her eyes were large as she looked out to the fluorescent lights of the city. He mumbled something about getting used to it and she hummed in acceptance. In that moment Minseok suddenly realised that she looked quite beautiful, and he began to doubt his plan of forcing himself into her life. He would never be good enough for her, she was so pure and innocent, almost naïve. He would just ruin her. He had shaken his head lightly trying to put himself back on the path at hand. He decided to bring the one person that they both knew back into the conversation. He knew exactly what had happened between them during their breakup as he had forced it out of Eunhyuk when he got him drunk. Yet, he needed to know how exactly much she hated him. Enough to sleep with him on the first night? That would really solidify his place in her life, but he didn’t want to blindly trust upon that to happen. “What happened between you and Eunhyuk?” he had asked putting up his most innocent voice. Trying to find that perfect weakness within her. It seemed for a second like she wasn’t going to answer him but eventually she confessed taking a big gulp of wine with it. She had clearly been avoiding her own feelings for a while, thinking the gulp of wine would help her cope better. Minseok had smiled slightly, this was exactly where he needed her. He pushed his previous thoughts aside and put on his act of ‘suddenly understanding his co-worker’s weird behaviour’ when in fact he had set it all up to begin with. It had been a little strange to see her with Eunhyuk in their last months as a couple, while knowing that she would end up by his side. It made him strangely jealous. Yet he knew she needed to be vulnerable in order to let him ‘save her’. He had stared at her for a while as she glanced outside. Her eyes were glazed not really taking in the sight of the city anymore. She was thinking, if he looked closely he could almost see the workings of it in her eyes. ‘What’s going on in that pretty little head of yours?’ he had finally asked, too impatient to wait much longer. She shot her head to his side and her gaze locked with his, her sky-blue eyes luring him in. ‘You think I’m pretty?’ she had asked so innocently that he almost threw his whole plan overboard at how weak it made him. Yet this was what he had been working towards for months, no years. He couldn’t let go now, he needed her to confront his parents. He confirmed the positive answer to her question before placing her empty wine glass on the table. She grabbed his hand and placed a soft kiss in it. Yes, exactly where he needed her to be. Though the judgement in his mind was quickly being clouded by arousal as she stepped even closer to him. ‘Then help me forget’ her voice was almost as soft as a whisper but shot a wave of arousal straight through him. He loved being right, he loved getting his way and my oh my, was he getting his way now. He grabbed her face between his hands and passionately locked their lips. He had taken care of her more than he would any other woman who shared his bed for the night and it seemed that with his release inside her a wave of relief washed over him as well. He had done it, he made his way into her life. Even when he woke up to the sight of her crying he had just pulled her close and held her. Let her fall apart in his arms without him judging her. She would feel emotionally supported and would come to need him. He had smiled slightly as she fell asleep again on his chest. There was a lot of work to be done for them to work out together. He crunched his nose in affirmation of that smoking habit she needed to kick, but he was sure now they would get there._ He shook his head trying to get rid of the memory. It felt so vivid in his mind still. The way she looked, walked, talked, and even smelled. It was like she was imprinting herself into his brain, or maybe he was just so eager to get her into his life that that was what made her seem so dreamlike. He glanced at his golden watch, he would be early if he left now but he couldn’t stay in this room any long. He grabbed his coat and keys and made his way outside.

He parked his car in front of her apartment building and made his way towards her door. He dressed up for tonight, leaving his usual standard black suit at home and opting for a more enticing designer look. His jacket was still black but instead of the smooth cashmere fabric this one had ruffled stripes and a silky finish. The colourful ruffled blouse underneath opened dangerously low showing off a striking designer necklace of a dreamcatcher. Minseok couldn’t help but smile at the subtle reference he had made in his clothing choices. He topped it off with leather look trousers and some black Dior shoes. His black hair was styled up with a middle parting and he even lined his eyes with some dark grey eyeliner. He looked expensive and enticing and it was exactly the look he was going for. After all, he still had to win her over. He quickly opened the backseat door of the car and got out a small bouquet of red roses. He took a deep breath before pressing the bell of her door. He suddenly felt incredibly nervous about this date. It felt as if this date would make or break their relationship. ‘Hello?’ a light surprised voice came from small speaker on the display of doorbells. ‘Eh… Hello, it’s Minseok’ he stumbled over his words a little, shaking his head slightly to regain his composure. ‘Oh, hey, you’re early. I’ll buzz you in. You know where to be, haha’ her laugh rang loudly through the intercom and soon a buzzing sound could be heard from the door. Minseok quickly made his way to open it. He walked the familiar hallway towards the apartment. He saw that she left the door ajar and he pushed softly against the wooden frame, taking a hesitant step inside the small apartment. Though it was small, way smaller than his penthouse, the space fitted Sian. It was clean and tidy and Minseok could smell the scent of the candles he had brought her last time. He cleared his throat loudly indicating his presence and a voice was heard from the bedroom. “Just two minutes, I’m almost done. Just grab yourself something to drink” Minseok passed on that offer, thinking he needed his head clear for this, but did make his way to the kitchen to take care of the roses he had brought her. He carefully cut the end of the roses before putting them in a clear vase and filling it with water. ‘You know, it is considered impolite to stare’ he commented without looking up from his task. He had noticed earlier how she had stopped in the doorway while he was still cutting the roses. She was now leaning against it watching him carefully. ‘you brought me roses’ she hummed. She pushed herself off the doorpost and walked towards him just as he put the last rose in the clear vase. She grabbed the vase and walked towards the living room placing them carefully on her coffee table. ‘That looks nice’ she smiled. Minseok finally had the chance to properly look at her. Her hair was pulled up in a loose pony tail the end of which swayed on her shoulders as she walked towards the table. She was wearing an off the shoulder black dress that tightly hugged her figure and stopped just above her knees. A simple silver necklace with a medallion at its end and a colourful shawl that was draped over her bare shoulders completed her look. She walked towards the front door and grabbed a pair of black heels. She quickly grabbed her keys and wallet of the side table and placed them in a small black purse before turning to him. ‘You know, it is considered impolite to stare’ she chuckled which made Minseok’s eyes shoot up to meet hers. He hadn’t meant to stare but he was surprised at how beautiful she looked in such a simple outfit. He caught her glancing at his outfit as well as her mouth opened slightly in awe. ‘Ready?’ He asked, and she nodded closing her mouth quickly. ‘Let’s go then’ he placed his hand on the small of her back guiding her out the apartment.

He glanced over the table at his date. She seemed comfortable enough humming lightly as her eyes scanned the menu. Her eyes flickered a little with excitement with every new item she read off it. ‘Oh! they have Tteokbokki, Samgyeopsal ánd Kimchi fried rice? Oh my I don’t know what to get’ she mumbled excitedly. Minseok chuckled at this, he had never before seen someone so excited about the food they were going to order. It was incredibly cute to him. She settled on the Tteokbokki in the end and started talking about her co-worker after they had placed their order. ‘I can’t believe he dyed his hair a boring black to announce his engagement. It’s very unlike Baekhyun. He usually has a very colourful hairstyle, but he said Kyungsoo insisted they had to look ‘good’ in their engagement photos’ she grabbed one of the seaweed sheets from its dish and started nibbling on it. Minseok was a little at a loss of what to do now. Sure, he had taken her on a date now, he even brought her flowers, they had already slept together. What else was he supposed to do to win her over. ‘You changed your hair’ she commented while still munching on the green sheets. ‘Yeah, I thought it would be nice to put in a little effort for this date’ she smiled widely at this and continued on talking. She kept talking about that co-worker of hers Baekhyun and it made him feel a slight pang of jealousy that he was such a big part of her life whereas of now, he was still little to nothing. Minseok sighed in relieve when their food arrived. At least now they both had something to actually focus on. ‘Baekhyun was actually a bit apprehensive when I talked about you taking me on this date’ Sian commented, her mouth half full of Tteokbokki as she spoke before carefully wiping the corners of her mouth. ‘Did he?’ Minseok hummed in surprise quickly filling his mouth with a spoonful of rice so he didn’t have to speak more. ‘Yeah, he said something about you being the head of a big company and how someone had died and that it was all very sketchy’ she babbled not taking her eyes off her plate again as she filled her mouth once more. Her eyes eventually turned towards him in expectation of his answer. Minseok had almost chocked on his rice when she mentioned his brother’s death. They had always tried to cover that up discretely, there hadn’t been a lot of media attention, his parents had made sure of that. He wiped his mouth and took a deep breath. ‘I’m not the head of a big company, my parents are. I just have the name’ he mumbled as he took a swig of his drink. She was staring brazenly into his eyes quietly munching on the contents of her dish. He softly cleared his throat ‘You are right. There was a death a few years back. It was my brother. He allegedly committed suicide’ her eyes narrowed at the information ‘allegedly?’ she questioned the insinuation clear between them both. He nodded and turned his gaze back to his food. He never spoke about his brother to anyone outside the professionals he had hired to find out more about his death. He was surprised as to why her co-worker would bring it up now, and not when he had basically carried the boy home in his drunken state that night, letting him hang off his shoulder and call him handsome.

At that moment a loud voice could be heard from the entrance of the restaurant ‘Sian?!’ both of them looked towards the sound and Minseok recognised one of the two as Baekhyun immediately. ‘Oh my, speak of the devil’ Sian exclaimed. ‘We were just talking about you’ she got up and hugged her friend and Minseok felt that pang of jealousy again. ‘Nothing too scandalous I hope’ he joked, the other boy must have felt the same emotions, as Minseok recognised the look in his eyes. ’What are you doing here?’ Sian had asked the two boys. ‘Well, Kyungsoo apparently made a reservation like a year ago here when he started planning out this whole engagement thing’ Baekhyun explained, the tone in his voice slightly bitter for being left out of it all. Sian chuckled and turned towards Minseok. ‘Minseok, this is Baekhyun, whom I believe you’ve met before, and this is his boy… No, I mean, fiancé Kyungsoo’ Sian announced her eyes beaming with delight at the official recognition of their engagement. Kyungsoo bowed politely and Minseok nodded his head. ‘Wait, HE is Kim Minseok?’ Baekhyun almost screamed through the restaurant. ‘Pleasure to meet you again Baekhyun, I’m assuming you’ve recovered well’ he kept the tone of his voice steady even though he felt like punching the guy. Baekhyun smiled a little awkwardly while nodding his head and turned back towards his fiancé. ‘Well, it was nice talking to you, but we have a romantic engagement dinner to attend’ Baekhyun announced loudly as he practically dragged his fiancé towards their table. Sian sat down smiling ‘Oh, those boys. I’m so happy for them’ she chirped ‘Oh! Which reminds me. I need a date for their wedding day. Would you… I mean… if you want to… you can… you don’t have to though’ she babbled never completing any of her questions or suggestions. Minseok placed his hand on the table gesturing for her to put her hands in his. He grabbed them lightly as he let his thumbs softly rub the back of her hands. ‘I would love to be your date for their wedding’ he announced happily watching as a veil of red spread across Sian’s face. She smiled warmly as he let go of her hands. The rest of their conversation was light and at moments Minseok caught himself laughing loudly at the terrible puns his date would make, grabbing at his belly for support. When she excused herself before running off to the toilet Minseok could contain the smile that crossed his face.

It seemed like his initial plan was working brilliantly and soon she would be giving him the inevitable call. He’d imagined the scenario about a million times now. ‘Minseok, I’m sorry but we’ve made a terrible mistake’ she would say in a slight panic over the phone. ‘I’m pregnant and I think it’s yours’ naturally he would be the ideal person saying they would work it out together and that he was there for her through it all. Nothing is as permanently binding as having a child. Even though Minseok wasn’t sure yet if he wanted to be a father. He was raised by nannies, so he naturally assumed that would be the way to go for his child as well. When Sian returned from the toilet she looked a bit unsteady, exactly as he had predicted. ‘Are you alright?’ he asked not sure if the concern in his voice was real of fake at this point. She nodded slightly ‘Yeah, I’m alright. Just seemed like my stomach gets upset randomly, and it’s gone as quick as it comes’ he hummed in understanding and gestured for the bill. ‘I’ll take you home’ he announced after he paid. He let her lean into him as he took them to his car. He helped her get in and put her seatbelt on her. A waft of her scent caught his nose and a sudden wave of arousal shot through him as memories of their first night together flood his mind. He quickly made his way towards the driver’s seat, shaking his head a little in the hopes of clearing his mind. Sitting down next to her it seemed as if she hadn’t noticed anything as she was lazily looking out of the window. ‘Okay, get her home, maybe a good night kiss and then wait’ he thought to himself as he started the car. His eyes were fixed on the road ahead when he felt a hand over his on the lever. He glanced over at the figure next to him. She was still staring out the window following the street lights with her eyes. ‘I had fun tonight, thank you’ she mumbled into the silence. He moved his hand from the lever to grab her small hand in his as he placed them in her lap. ‘I did too, you look really beautiful tonight’ he answered returning his gaze to the road ahead, trying to will away the blush that started to creep up his face. Why was he getting nervous again? it wasn’t like he never shared a ride with a beautiful lady before. He swallowed thickly as he felt her brush lazy circles on the top of his hand. Maybe he was getting nervous because his plan seemed to be working. If she was really pregnant, which she showed all the signs of, was he really ready to take on that responsibility? They stopped at her house and Minseok walked her back up to her apartment. They stopped at her door. Before she opened it, she turned around to face him. ‘I really had a good time tonight. And I believe I owe you this’ she stepped a little closer and tiptoed to grab Minseok’s face in both her hands. She looked at him intensely before softly attaching their lips together. Minseok was quick to take over dominance in the kiss, pressing Sian against the door before pressing himself into her locking her there. Their kiss broke by Sian softly pushing Minseok away from her. He cocked his eyebrow at her in confusion and a blush crept up her face. ‘I like you. I just want to take things slowly’ This made Minseok laugh out loudly ‘I think we are already beyond the point of taking it slow’ he pointed out placing soft kisses on her jawline. Sian was determined, and she pushed him again and nodded guiltily ‘I know, I need to figure some things out and I don’t want to mess it up more. So, please’ Minseok let go of her and stepped back, immediately missing the warmth of her body pressed against his. He cleared his throat ‘I’ll be seeing you then’ he said as he quickly made his way back to the lift. He released a breath he didn’t know he was holding when the doors closed and willed his half hard member away. This was going to take more effort than he anticipated, but he was willing to wait. He smirked lightly. He would be getting the inevitable call from her anyways in a few days.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry it took so long for this update to appear!  
> I've been insanely busy, but I should have some more time in the next few weeks to get some more writing done.
> 
> What do you think will happen next? In both 1400 and 2018?


	9. Chapter nine

**Joseon 1400**

Soheon woke up with a headache. How could she be so stupid and insist on drinking the wine offered by the king. As Won Jeong had predicted the king tried to persuade her to convince her fiancé to take the throne. However, he didn’t know that Soheon prepared for this and gave a speech as to why Yi Je was the best option to become the monarch. The groaned softly at the pain in her head. She shouldn’t be drinking now that she’s with child. What if something happens to it. In a reflex she grabbed at her stomach and rubbed it softly. That’s when she realised she wasn’t wearing any clothes. She opened her eyes and realised she was in Won Jeong’s bedroom. Then the events of the night before came back to her. She had done it. She had sex with her future husband. She slowly turned her head towards the sleeping figure next to her. Now that she was lying here, she finally got a good look at him and saw that he was really beautiful like this. The only one in his family with single lidded eyes that were shaped almost catlike. Strands of black curly hair decorated his face and Soheon desperately wanted to run her hand through it. She shook the thought from her mind. That’s something only lovers do. It’s something she used to do to Jonghyun. Stroke his hair and steal his kisses. Her heartbeat quickened when the prince stirred in his sleep. She didn’t know why she was so fascinated by the prince all of a sudden. All their interactions had been strictly business up until now. Even the sex was just to make sure the baby growing inside her had a stable future. Everything was done with premeditation, nothing that would involve the heart if at all possible. Then why was her heart skipping beats by just looking at him? She lifted her body off the bed and swung her legs off the side. ‘Where are you going?’ a deep sleepy voice rumbled from behind her. Again, her heart skipped a beat. She had no answer to give the prince because she had no idea why she wanted to get away so quickly either. A hand locked itself around her wrist and pulled her into him. He quickly enveloped her tiny frame with his arms and planted soft kisses on the crown of her head. ‘Just stay a little longer’ he pleaded and Soheon found herself quick to give into him and made herself comfortable against his chest. Tracing the outline of his muscles with the tips of her fingers. His rather stiff demeanour while clothed kept the existence of his chiselled chest well hidden. It made sense for his body to be in the fit state as the prince was forced to follow regular sword fight lessons. If his brother spares his life when rising to the throne he is supposed to spend the rest of his life as head of the King’s army. Soheon never really cared about this fate before, but now she seemed to dislike the idea of him being in such a life-threatening situation. Luckily his father was still alive, though still ill, which meant that Won Jeong was only in charge of the Baek-seong, also called ‘commoners’ affairs’. Basically, he had to deal with anything that the people, that weren’t part of the royal household, needed or requested of the king and royal family. Life for the commoners had gotten better ever since Won Jeong took over the tasks of his father as he had a much kinder and forgiving heart.

Soheon had always been curious about how things really worked within the palace but since she wasn’t officially married to Won Jeong yet, she wasn’t allowed into the palace without a direct invitation. An idea finally struck her. ‘Please take me with you to work today’ Soheon lifted her head to look at the prince’s face. A mistake, she found, as he looked incredibly beautiful from here and once again her heart toppled in her chest. His eyes were still closed but the way his forehead was crunched up told Soheon he heard her request loud and clear. However, no answer came from him. ‘Please, Won, I’m going crazy locked up in this house. Please let me come with you. Maybe I can help’ a soft chuckle came from the prince which made Soheon’s body shake with his. She didn’t take his eyes off him. He apparently felt her gaze on him as he opened his eyes to look back at her. ‘You’re a strange one’ he simply commented stealing a quick kiss. ‘Fine, no more kissing until you take me with you’ Soheon threatened, adding a fake pout to her face, not sure how much effect it would have. She tried to push herself away from the prince, but he held her against him tightly. She struggled against his strength a little pathetically before giving up and burying her face in his chest in embarrassment.  ‘Ah, so now you’re bribing me’ his voice was raspy with sleep ‘Fine. You can come. But you can’t interfere and most of all you can’t undermine any decisions I make. It would make me look weak if you speak against my command and we don’t want another riot, do we?’ Soheon’s face light up ‘Really? I can come’ he nodded in approval. ‘You’re the best’ she exclaimed excitedly and peppered his face with kisses. He chuckled softly ‘I should approve more of your request if it gets me this treatment’ He joked and rolled them both over, so he was now hovering over her. ‘Let’s do this properly’ he affirmed and locked their lips in a sensual kiss. Soheon hadn’t felt this comfortable with the prince before and it was rather nice. It was nice to be this intimate with someone, to have that stability when everything else in life was so uncertain. ‘Breakfast’ Soheon mumbled in the kiss and Won Jeong groaned in protest. ‘I’ll have you for breakfast’ he joked planting wet kisses along her jawline. ‘As tempting as that sounds, your highness, you are expected at court soon and I don’t want to spend the day in the palace being hungry’ Soheon explained firmly. The prince sighed in defeat and let her go after placing another soft kiss on her lips. ‘Soheon’ the prince called out just before she made her way out of his bedroom into her own. Soheon turned her face towards the man. ‘I’m looking forward to our wedding’ he said with a wide grin on his face. Soheon couldn’t help herself and grinned back widely. Her heart filled with so much warmth for the prince that she could mistake it for love. Yet, she knew it wasn’t love because she still loved Jonghyun, right? ‘Me too’ she smiled and made her way to her own bedroom to get dressed for the day. When Soheon entered the breakfast parlour the maids were serving out breakfast and Won Jeong was already seated at the table. ‘You’re only joining the morning’ Won Jeong announced without looking up from the piece parchment he was holding. Soheon was about to protest, saying she wanted to stay longer and help him out but the prince beat her to it. ‘Not because I don’t want you there’ he looked at her over the rim of the paper ‘you have your dress fitting this afternoon’ he smiled warmly before returning his attention to the parchment. ‘dress fitting?’ Soheon asked, not sure when she indicated she wanted to purchase a new dress. ‘Your wedding dress, Soh, are you always this slow in the mornings?’ he chuckled and a flush of red shot to Soheon’s face. Right, she was getting married in a month’s time. With falling ill and hearing the news of her pregnancy, she completely forgot about the ordeal. She could barely imagine herself as a married woman, wearing the colourful wedding gown, but this arrangement was made long ago and there was no way out of it without putting her whole family to shame.

She had been inside the palace once before, when she was introduced to the prince as his betrothed. She couldn’t have been more than 12 years old walking the beautifully decorated hallways of the palace, grasping to her mother’s hand for dear life. Her small fingers barely big enough to hold onto her. Two years later she lost her mother to an unidentifiable disease. She had fallen ill just like Soheon had last time, but she was gone within a few days. Her father was devastated because unlike most people within the palace, Soheon’s parents married out of love and not politics. Soheon still had issues coping with the loss of her mother. This time she was walking next to her husband to be, gracefully hanging off his arm. The loss of her mother meant that Soheon had to spend more time in her studies to be princess, as her mother was not around to teach her, her mother-in-law was in charge of training her. She didn’t like her mother-in-law much. She was an insane perfectionist and incredibly stern, only wanting perfection for her son. The hall to the throne room was decorated with grand portraits of previous rulers. They all looked stern and powerful and it scared Soheon a little when she looked at them too long. She made sure to look straight forward towards the great wooden doors that signified the entrance to the throne room. ‘Why are we going here?’ Soheon whispered to Won Jeong. ‘Because these matters are handled in the throne room. It’s done by the king usually but since he’s unwell I fill in’ Won Jeong replies in a normal volume ‘hmm’ Soheon just hummed. Her jaw fell slack the moment they entered the throne room. It was the most beautiful room she had ever seen. So much more colourful than she remembers. The walls were lined with expensive tapestry explaining the history of Joseon in great detail, the events decorated with colourful and golden thread. ‘Wow’ was all she could mutter, and the prince squeezed her arm gently. Most of the morning had been uneventful, just filled with a lot of general requests. A Soheon understood, it had been raining a lot this season which resulted in some of the crops failing to grow properly. The people that came to the palace to explain the situation were simply asking for a bit of cash to start over and try again for next season. Soheon sat on the right side of the prince, paying close attention to his every move. He showed a lot of compassion towards the citizens and Soheon couldn’t stop the feeling of pride washing over her. She didn’t even do anything herself, but her fiancé seemed to adapt very well to life on the throne and Soheon now understood why his father wanted Won Jeong as monarch so desperately. He was born to do this, it all came so naturally to him. Soheon finally understood a piece of her complicated royal side of the family. A man, about the same age as her fiancé, walked in and bowed to Soheon before he bowed to the prince. ‘Ah, finally a man with some real honour’ Won Jeong joked to the civilian in front of him, who smiled back. ‘Anything for the future wife of our Minseok, your highness’ the man replied and bowed again a little deeper this time. Soheon felt the man beside her stiffen at the mention of the name. ‘Who is Minseok’ she thought and looked at her future husband. She placed her hand on his arm and squeezed it slightly bringing her prince back into the present. ‘I’m not sure where you got that name, sir’ Won Jeong replied sternly and the man smiled widely at him. ‘Of course you don’t remember, being an official prince now. How could you possibly remember those days when you were just a boy running away from home seeking refuge from the storm. You must have been the same age as me around that time as well. About 7 or 8. My family took you in and fed you, gave you a place to stay until the people from the palace came and pick you up again’ the man told the story warmly and all the people in the room, including Soheon herself, were listening to it breathlessly. ‘We knew you were important, with the whole escort back to the palace, but I never imagined you to be an actual crown prince’ Won Jeong looked as if he had just seen a ghost. A ghost from his rebellious past that came back to haunt him. Someone whom he gave a false name to standing right before him now. Suddenly Won Jeong smiled again and the colour returned to his face. ‘Junmyeon, right?’ he asked the man who nodded enthusiastically ‘Yes, I remember you, and your parents. I still visit them every year, although it’s not as much a secret anymore as it was when I was eight’ his laughter filled the room and Soheon felt her heart jump at the sound of it. It felt so pure and unburdened, unlike any laughter she heard before. ‘Who is Minseok?’ She finally asked her husband to be. He grabbed her hand before turning his body towards her ‘That’s the name I use outside of the palace, to keep my identity safe because the whole world would know exactly who I was by just my name, and I wanted…. Well, I wanted the freedom of anonymity’ the prince explained, and an array of little gasps went through the room. A prince leaving the palace grounds without permission was one, but him admitting to it and admitting to using a fake identity was almost worth a scandal. ‘The name suits you’ Soheon commented and squeezed the Prince’s hand in confirmation. She knew that all the questions roaming in her head now couldn’t be answered without her breaking about a hundred laws on how to address a prince, so she kept quiet. ‘What can I do for you Junmyeon, tell me, I’ll help you wherever I can’ Won Jeong explained warmly. It was clear from the way they looked at each other and how warmly they addressed each other that they had become good friends in the short time they met.

The Prince’s heart pumped violently in his throat. He hadn’t heard that name to address him in years. About 20 years to be exact. Little beads of sweat started to form on the prince’s forehead. ‘I’m not sure where you got that name, sir’ he managed to utter but wasn’t really able to pay attention to what he was saying much. His brain was working overtime trying to fit the pieces together and suddenly the pieces fell into place. This was Junmyeon who was the same age as him. He had sought refuge at his parent’s house one night after he’d run away from home again.

_He had never gotten this far from the palace before and was a bit apprehensive of asking for anything because it might mean the guards could find him and take him back. Yet the storm had gotten worse and worse and Won Jeong didn’t know where to go in the dark, so he knocked on the door of the first house he came across. It was quite a small house, but it felt homely and the people living there were kind enough to invite him in and provide food for him. The woman was a short and rather thin looking woman with a kind smile. The man was at least two heads taller than the woman and had really big ears. They looked sort of funny but Won Jeong didn’t want to press his luck by commenting on them. He kept quiet while he ate the food they served him, and the woman would praise his looks over and over again. She noted that Won Jeong, or Minseok to them, would be a great friend for their own son Junmyeon. He could’ve cried at the amount of care he received from the strangers. Not even his own mother was ever this kind to the prince. He had told them his name was Minseok, so they wouldn’t recognise him as the prince and send him straight back to the palace. He stayed with the family for two whole days saying he’d run away from home because his mother disliked him so much, without spilling any information on who he really was. They thought he was just a little boy from the neighbouring village. Not long after he had finished his meal the boy in question came through the door. He looked at Won Jeong and then his parents, waiting for them to explain. His mother walked towards him and explained how Minseok had knocked on their door soaked through and hungry and they gave him shelter and some food but that there was still plenty left for him. The boy flopped down loudly next to Won Jeong and held out his hand. The prince shyly took the hand of the boy and shook it. ‘Now we’ll be best friends forever’ the boy announced with a grin and Won Jeong smiled back shyly. He never had a best friend. This adventure was going better than expected. Won Jeong or Minseok stayed with the Kim family, as they were called, for two more days until guards knocked on the door during dinner time and spotted the prince. In those two days Minseok and Junmyeon became inseparable. They did everything together and Won Jeong could picture himself living as Minseok for the rest of his life. The guards easily grabbed him and pulled him away from the table where he was eating his food. Won Jeong had cried so much on the way back to the palace. He wasn’t worried about the punishments waiting for him at home. The only thing he was worried about was if he ever got to see his best friend again._

He couldn’t believe his best friend was actually standing right in front of him and he suddenly realised how much of a terrible friend he had been over the years. He hadn’t visited the Kims’ in 10 years until he crossed the house on the way back from a mission ordered by the King. He just turned 18 and realised that this would also be the case for Junmyeon. He made the guards stop and knocked on the door of the cottage. Mrs Kim recognised him immediately and dragged him inside for a meal. She explained that Junmyeon had to join the army on his 18th birthday, which was why he wasn’t here right now. Won Jeong felt a slight pang of disappointment at the absence of his friend but his parents were nice and promised to tell Junmyeon about his visit. Won Jeong visited them every year for the past ten years but never found Junmyeon there. After he came back from the army he had fallen in love with a local girl called Hani and they married soon after. As a married man Junmyeon rarely visited his parents, much to the regret of his mother and secretly to Won Jeong as well, since he kind of missed his best friend. ‘Junmyeon, right? Yes, I remember you, and your parents. I still visit them every year, although it’s not as much a secret anymore as it was when I was eight’. The man smiled at the recognition. Won Jeong could see a little of the boy he knew again in his eyes until a voice sounded next to him ‘Who is Minseok?’ she didn’t look angry but genuinely curious as to where the name came from and since the story was already out in the open the Prince decided to come clean. ‘That’s the name I use outside of the palace, to keep my identity safe because the whole world would know exactly who I was by just my name, and I wanted…. Well, I wanted the freedom of anonymity’ he smiled at her when her eyes light with understanding ‘it suits you’ she said, and the prince felt his heart make a little leap. How did he get so lucky in finding someone who doesn’t even love him who is so understanding? He turned back to his best friend ‘What can I do for you Junmyeon, tell me, I’ll help you wherever I can’. The man at the bottom of the steps cleared his throat. ‘Last week a group of rebels to the crown destroyed our village. Raided all the houses before setting fire to them. I don’t want money. I just want some supplies, so we can start rebuilding our village’ the man’s voice cracked, and he discretely dried the tears on his face with the ends of his sleeves. ‘We will do everything in our power to help you, and the people from your village rebuild. I promise you that. As far as you and your wife go, you can stay here at the palace until things are arranged’ the man’s face light up and the prince finally saw his best friend in them again. The carefree child he hung out with for a few days. The Prince was worried about the rebels returning to the palace. They had a similar occurrence not too long ago. So when Junmyeon bowed deeply to Won Jeong, thanking him over and over again, before he left the throne room, he called one of the guards to his side before letting anyone new in. ‘Didn’t we get rid of the rebels last time?’ he asked the guard who looked at him in confusion ‘We executed the stable boy on your command your majesty, we think he was the leader of the rebellion, but we don’t know if he might have accomplices outside the palace walls’. The guard explained. 

Suddenly the figure next to him stirred and ran out the room. ‘Please, keep people outside until I’m back. I’m just going to check on my fiancé’ the prince informed the guard before he quickly followed in Soheon’s footsteps to the side of the room. The door lead to a little courtyard that was designed for the king to ‘think’ about his decisions if he needed to. Soheon sat next to the pond her fingers slowly caressing the water, her shoulders shaking slightly with the sobs. ‘Soh, what’s wrong’ she turned around quickly and shot him a deadly glance before getting up and walking towards him. ‘That, was _your_ command?’ Her sky-blue eyes bore into his. They were so beautiful and rare. No one he’d seen had such clear blue eyes as hers. They flicked over the prince’s face, over and over trying to find any trace of emotion. There was none. The boy had planned to kill his entire family. He had felt no remorse for pursuing that execution. He knew he was part of her staff but why did she care so much about a simple stable boy. ‘Answer me Won Jeong’ she demanded. It was rather cute how she stomped her foot down demandingly. ‘Yes, it was me’ He replied dryly still not sure why she cared so much. An audible smack sounded through the area and he soon realised that she had been the one to smack his face. It didn’t hurt much but the sting and more prominently the embarrassment was there. She lifted her hand to slap him again, but he grabbed her wrist firmly. ‘Do that again and you will regret it, milady’ He had dropped his voice to indicate the seriousness of the situation. She had just slapped a grand prince which could be labelled as treason, which was punishable by death. He forced her to look at him and saw the tears in her eyes and on her face, she never dared to meet his gaze. ‘Do you realise the gravity of your action?’ Won Jeong asked calmly. Her eyes looked up to his ‘Go ahead, kill me too, it’s what you do anyways, have people killed. You probably didn’t even do it yourself. You coward’ she spat, genuine anger laced with every word. ‘I’m sorry if the boy meant something to you, but he was planning to kill my entire family’ the prince explained calmly while using his thumb to clear the dewy tears off her face. She pushed the hand away ‘and that gives you the right to kill him?’ she asked, her voice void of emotions. The sudden change in her demeanour threw the prince off, how was she suddenly so cold towards him? He was just a simple stable boy. It was then that a critical puzzle piece fell into place. ‘You loved him, didn’t you?’ he asked, and her eyes shot to his, fire blazing behind them. She didn’t have to confirm anymore since the look she gave was all the answer he needed. He hated to admit that it stung a little. Is he jealous? He doesn’t even really love her, even though the last few weeks his heart had been warmed by her actions. He has just known her for a very long time. He knows they’re to be married when the time is right but love? Princes don’t get love. She was the first one to break the glance between them. Giving him the answer, he never wanted. ‘Go’ the prince said, the topic clearly wasn’t up for debate. ‘You are not to leave the house, solely for your dress fitting to which one of my guard will accompany you. We will talk about this when I get back tonight’. Won Jeong had not before felt this hurt by someone that was not direct family. He tried to contain the tears stinging in his eyes. Soheon could not see him cry. She might mistake it for feelings and make a fuss about it. She was complacent enough and left with her maid. He watched her leave the palace thinking about the stable boy he commanded to be executed. The prince knew the boy had been part of their ‘household’ and had made a bold move with his execution but he did ask for specific permission from Soheon’s father before taking anyone from their staff. The dull sting in his heart remained throughout his work of that day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sozz for the late update. My life was a mess and I couldn't find the motivation to continue the story honestly. It's slowly growing on me again so I'll try to write more.
> 
> Any theories on what might happen next?


	10. Chapter Ten

****

**South Korea 2018**

Sian shot up from her bed. Cold sweat trickling slowly down her back. Her breathing was rapid and laborious. She shook her head as if she could shake off the dream that way. Won Jeong killed him? Not with his bare hands of course, but he did order it to happen.

What does this mean? Is Minseok Won Jeong? Would he do something so horrible too? They clearly used _his_ name for the prince’s ‘out of palace’ persona in the dream. Does this really mean that Minseok is the same person as the prince? Sian groaned loudly in confusion her heart still beating rapidly.

She glanced over at her phone and saw the screen light up. She had received three messages. Two from Baekhyun asking if she had already picked her shoes for her dress and what time she would be at their place tomorrow and one from Minseok saying he was looking forward to their second date.

Sian threw her phone to the end of the bed and let herself fall back into the pillows with another loud groan. She was going to have to cancel on Minseok. There was no way she could be a bride’s maid at Baekhyun’s wedding while she was so incredibly distracted by those weird dreams and how they relate to Minseok.

She had been looking forward to spending more time with Minseok. Trying to find what relates her dreams to him. He seemed to take an interest in her which she was surprised by, but she couldn’t risk it now. She didn’t want to ruin her best friends’ special day with this whole ordeal. She couldn’t allow herself to be distracted.

For a short while after sleeping with Minseok Sian suspected she might be pregnant. She seemed to show all the signs, random waves of nausea, sudden increase in appetite and just general tiredness. She went to her GP for confirmation, as it would be in the early stages if it was true. It was almost impossible as she was on the pill, but she had heard some stories of it happening before. Luckily, he told her that she was just fighting off a virus and that with plenty of rest she should be fine.

Sian decided to get up and get ready first before calling Minseok to cancel their date. She quickly texted Baekhyun saying she did find proper shoes for her dress and that she would be there at 9 AM sharp tomorrow morning and that they’d better not be doing the nasty when she’d arrive.

After taking a long shower, way longer than she actually needed to, Sian made her way to the kitchen. Maybe she should make breakfast first before calling? She wondered. No, she had to rip off the band-aid and call him telling him the lie that as a bride’s maid she wasn’t supposed to bring a date, as she would be too busy anyways. She dialled his number.

Her heartbeat picked up with every ring. After 5 rings he picked up the phone ‘Hey. Did you miss me that much that you couldn’t wait until tomorrow to hear my voice?’ a soft chuckle was heard on the other end. Sian almost hung up. Giving up on the whole mission to let him down easily and just move to another city never seeing him again. She knew she couldn’t do such a thing, but it seemed easier than rejecting him.

‘Minseok. I need to tell you something, please hear me out okay?’ another soft chuckle came from the other line. It sounded calm and understanding as if he had been expecting this call. ‘Yeah, go on’ he said eventually when she didn’t continue. She cleared her throat ‘Well. I was calling to ehm… to tell you that… I…’

‘That you’re pregnant?’

‘…That I want to cancel our date’

‘Huh what? Pregnant?’ the silence on the other side of the line was almost deafening. ‘I’m not pregnant, I just need to focus on being a bride’s maid tomorrow and I can’t have a date for that. So, I wanted to take a rain check on that date’ there was another long silence on the other side of the line and Sian checked her phone quickly to see if he hadn’t hung up on her.

‘Yeah, uhm… not pregnant, no date. Sure fine. I’ll call you later then’ he mumbled quickly before hanging up on her without saying goodbye. How would he know about her suspicions on the pregnancy? She hadn’t told anyone and had been very discreet about it before going to her GP. She shook her head trying to will the negative image her brain was creating out of her brain.

She took a deep sigh. That was one problem out of the way, but she also knew that Baekhyun would not leave her alone if she didn’t bring a date at all to their wedding day at all, as she had promised him that she wouldn’t go alone. Reluctantly she dialled another number and held the phone to her ear.

‘Hello?’ a raspy voice sounded from the other line

‘Eunhyuk? It’s Sian. Please don’t hang up on me, I have a favour to ask’ Sian muttered quickly trying her best to keep her voice even and steady. She was trying her hardest to not let him know how terrified she was. A simple hum from the other end encouraged her to go on.

‘Could you be my date to Baekhyun’s wedding? You don’t have to spend the whole evening with me, just for the entrance and a few photos and then you can do whatever you want, there’s an open bar and plenty of snacks’ She realised how desperate she sounded but decided not to care anymore.

‘What about Minseok? Isn’t he your new lover?’ the bitterness was clearly audible in his voice and Sian realised that that was what she deserved for not telling him about it.

‘We’re… It’s complicated’ Sian finally muttered not wanting to explain the situation to her ex. She didn’t want to give him an excuse to make her feel bad about herself or the fact that she slept with him on the first night.

‘Okay. I’ll go with you. On one condition’ Sian rolled her eyes dramatically thanking the lord that they weren’t video calling. ‘Sure, go on’ she sighed knowing she had to give in to something to get him to come along with her. ‘I get to kiss you once’ he replied simply. Sian was about to protest but knew that if she did he might come up with a worse alternative. ‘Uhg. Fine. But only ONCE’ she emphasised.

‘Deal’ he exclaimed. ‘I’ll get my suit; does it need to match anything?’ Sian was surprised he cared enough to want to match her outfit. ‘Ehm. I’m wearing purple with white and a little black if you want to match, but you don’t have to’ Sian explained getting a little nervous about Eunhyuk’s intentions for this date.

‘I’ll find something to subtly match. We’ll be the talk of the party, after the groom and groom of course’ he seemed genuinely excited about the event and Sian couldn’t help but feel a little excitement next to her nerves as well. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow. We leave Baek’s house at 10 so if you’re there by then we can travel to the church together’ Sian directed thankful for not having to explain where exactly Kyungsoo and Baekhyun lived since he’s been to their house before.

‘I’ll see you tomorrow then’ he replied, and they hung up after saying their goodbyes. Eunhyuk seemed genuinely excited about asking him to the event and a little of the anxiety had left her body. she quickly made her way to work to prepare for the store closing the next day. People needed to know that this was a special event and wouldn’t be able to get their favourite hot or cold beverages on that day.

The next morning, she woke up to a call from Eunhyuk. ‘Hey, do you mind if I show up a little earlier?’ he asked sounding a little timid. ‘Yeah sure’ Sian replied, not minding a little extra company as she was sure that Baekhyun and Kyungsoo would mainly be occupied with themselves.

He eventually showed up to her house in a black suit and purple bowtie holding a single white rose. ‘Wow don’t you look dashing’ Sian exclaimed pleasantly surprised by the amount of effort he had put in. He scratched the back of his head absentmindedly a tic Sian knew he had when he was nervous.

‘Yeah, uh… you know. I want to make a good impression on this date’ he joked but Sian saw the sincerity behind it. She knew Eunhyuk never wanted to split up. Sure, he had slept with someone else repeatedly and was a little aggressive towards her sometimes, but Eunhyuk believed that they were soulmates and would end up back together again someday.

‘You don’t look so bad yourself’ he hummed checking her outfit up and down. Sian was wearing a long purple gown that was decorated with black and white details and finished off with a white ribbon that was draped around her middle and showed a big bow on the back of the dress.

‘Don’t get any ideas Hyuk, this is a one-time emergency’ Sian explained sternly but couldn’t keep her cold façade for long as he offered her the white rose. She quickly placed the rose in a little vase on the kitchen counter and made her way to the door.

‘You’re driving’ Sian announced and threw her ex-boyfriend the keys to her car. He looked at her confused unsure if she really meant the proposal ‘I can’t drive in these heels’ she quickly explained showing off her black stilettos. He nodded and made his way to the driver’s seat.

Arriving at Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s house Sian was immediately thrown into a pit of drama as Baekhyun couldn’t find his purple cufflinks and was sobbing uncontrollably about it. Kyungsoo looked at Sian with desperation in his eyes.

‘I don’t know what to do. I’ve tried everything to calm him down, but he just won’t stop crying. What if we’re late to the ceremony because of this?’ he tried very hard to keep the panic from his voice, but it wasn’t working very well. Baekhyun picked up on their conversation and started wailing even louder apologising profusely for ruining their day.

Sian ordered Kyungsoo to go downstairs and provide tea for the other guests there while she would try and solve the problems. Eunhyuk guided Kyungsoo downstairs and Sian could hear him ask where he kept his tea and coffee supplies, so he could help him out. She thanked him silently for picking up the situation so quickly.

She locked the door of the boys’ bedroom from the inside, hearing the satisfying click of the metal falling into place and made her way over to Baekhyun who was hunched over with his elbows on his knees and his head in his hands. She sat down on the floor with her legs crossed before his legs, not minding if the position was lady-like or proper at this moment.

For a while they just sat there in silence. Baekhyun softly sobbing and Sian rubbing her hand up and down his legs in comfort. After a while she could hear that Baekhyun’s crying had stopped but she didn’t make a move. After a deep shaky breath from Baekhyun she decided it was time to actually solve the problem.

‘Hey there, handsome. Are you ready for your big day?’ She asked cutely, knowing her best friend was a sucker for her aegyo. He smiled a little but shook his head. He put his arms in front of himself stretching out and showing me that the cufflinks were missing.

‘Yeah, I heard something about that. Luckily you have a best friend that always listens to everything you tell her. They are in the top drawer of your vanity. You told me you put them there for safekeeping because you didn’t want to lose those special ones’ Sian explained patiently, getting up to walk towards the vanity and open the drawer that contained the velvet box.

‘See, here they are. No need to worry’ she cooed as she walked back and proceeded to put the cufflinks on his suit for him. ‘Now tell me Baekhyun, is there anything else that’s been bothering you?’ the boy bit his lip and refused to meet her eyes. Sian knew this went deeper than just simple cufflinks.

She let another silence fall in the room. She picked up some of the make up on the vanity and started working on Baekhyun’s face slowly erasing all signs of his breakdown. She worked in silence as Baekhyun hadn’t replied to her yet and still refused to meet her eyes. Eventually he spoke

‘I’m scared Sian’ he whimpered softly ‘I’m not good enough for Kyungsoo, and if we’re married he’s trapped. Stuck with the likes of me. Forever’ he continued the panic in his voice returning once more. Sian realised quick enough and placed her hand on his thigh to steady him.

‘Baekhyun, listen to me. Kyungsoo loves you. He has loved you for a very long time. Longer than your slow ass brain realises. He wants to marry you because he _wants_ to be stuck with you. For the rest of his life. You are good enough Baekhyun’ Sian smiled warmly at her best friend. She knew not all of her words would actually enter his consciousness, but he just needed someone there to challenge the fears in his brain.

‘You are right. He loves me. I love him. This is the right decision’ he turned his face to the mirror and smiled approvingly. ‘Thank you’ he muttered. ‘And I mean not just for the make-up’. They shared a loving embrace before making their way downstairs towards the rest of the guests.

Baekhyun was back to his enthusiastic self again after apologising to their guests. He was now throwing around stories on how he and Kyungsoo met and fell in love. Kyungsoo was right next to him a steady arm around his fiancé’s waist. He turned his head towards Sian and mouthed a thank you. Sian just smiled at him and mouthed back ‘anytime’.

‘You’re a magical woman, Sian’ a voice next to her muttered. Eunhyuk was standing next to her gazing at the same scenario as she was, and he seemed impressed. ‘If you’re trying to flatter me with compliments, it’s working’ she replied back trying to add sarcasm to hide the blush creeping up her face, but she failed miserably. His arm found her waist and for the first time she didn’t want to pull away after his touch. ‘Good’ he simply muttered enjoying a little more of the scenery in front of him.

The venue for Baekhyun and Kyungsoo’s wedding was absolutely stunning and couldn’t be more fitting for them as a pair. From the outside it looked like a modern mansion that felt homely from the moment you entered through the large glass doors into the foyer. The gigantic foyer had marble floors and was littered with golden decorations. Most of the space in the foyer was taken up by a large spiral staircase that covered all the floors of the mansion. In the middle of the spiral staircase shone the light from the oval solar window in the ceiling.

They made a right upon entering the mansion towards a cosy parlour where the ceremony would take place. All the guests were already seated when Eunhyuk and Sian made their way to the front of the room. It was a decent size room decorated in white and a soft lilac, which seemed to be a running colour theme during this wedding. The chairs were lined with white fabric and the sides were decorated with purple and lilac flowers that were also placed randomly around the room.

At the front of the room was a small step up that served as the altar. The priest of Kyungsoo’s parents’ church was to officiate the wedding and stood at the front patiently waiting for the grooms’ arrival. As if timed to perfection the sun came out from behind the clouds filling the room with a warm touch and accentuating the subtle golden details in the decorations.

Once she put Eunhyuk in the right spot she made her way to the back of the room again to indicate the presence of all the guests to the grooms. Most of the wedding was in a traditional setting, much to the enjoyment of Kyungsoo’s parents. However, Baekhyun wanted to break one of the traditions and walk down the aisle together, hand in hand.

Sian quickly moved back to her seat next to Eunhyuk and signalled the musician to start playing his song to mark their entrance. Once they made their way through the door, holding each other’s hands and smiling widely, Sian couldn’t contain her tears any longer. She had seen their relationship blossom from a tiny crush to this very wedding day.

Eunhyuk put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her into him, letting her cry on his chest. He fiddled a little in his pocket before offering her a clean handkerchief. Sian moved her head up a little to look at him in confusion, but he just smiled and dabbed the tears from her face with the fabric.

The ceremony was short and intimate, only close friends and relatives were invited to it. This allowed Kyungsoo’s parents to have their wish of a traditional wedding and leave room for Kyungsoo and Baekhyun to organise their own after party, making everyone happy.

Baekhyun and Kyungsoo wrote their own vows to each other telling the other what they promised they would do and how they would show each other their love. Seeing her best friend like that Sian might have felt a little pang of jealousy because of her own marital status.

After the ceremony it was time for the official wedding pictures. This would all happen outside just before the other guests arrived at the main hall of the mansion. This way the grooms could make another grand entrance to the rest of the guests. That was Baekhyun’s idea since he absolutely adored being the centre of attention. Sian smiled a lot since it was nice to see both her boys being all smiles themselves.

Eunhyuk had been a surprisingly good date during the next event as well. Politely holding doors for Sian, offering to get her a drink and some snacks since she was constantly moving around to arrange things. He posed for the pictures diligently and made sure all was well for everyone. He had been an absolute joy to be around and Sian almost forgot why she broke up with him in the first place.

‘I think I’m going to take you up on that deal we made’ Eunhyuk announced as he stepped into Sian’s space and grabbed hold of her face softly. They had just moved inside after the pictures and the room was absolutely packed with people. He pressed their lips together and for a moment Sian let herself get lost in the kiss, remembering the good times she had with Eunhyuk.

He had been such a wonderful date today that she almost missed him around like this. Almost, because she surely hadn’t forgotten all the times he had hurt her both emotionally and physically. Remembering all the times he wasn’t as ideal as he now seemed made letting his lips leave hers a little easier.

‘Thank you again Eunhyuk’ she muttered still in their own little bubble until someone cleared their throat behind them. Sian turned around to the sound thinking Baekhyun might demand her attention for a while. The person now standing in front of her wasn’t Baekhyun. He had a black suit with white ruffled shirt and black shining shoes. Little golden details were displayed on his suit. His black curls were neatly styled and stood out against his caramel skin colour. He looked expensive and beautiful.

‘Minseok’ Sian muttered in shock. He was the last person she had expected to see here right now, as she was sure she didn’t dream the cancellation she made the day before. ‘What are you doing here?’ she finally asked him after regaining her wits. ‘I could ask the same of him’ he replied pointing towards Eunhyuk.

‘I’m here as her date’ Eunhyuk replied before Sian had the opportunity to think of one. He stepped in front of her pushing her frame slightly behind him. Minseok’s eyes narrowed slightly at the sight, a clear sign of irritation. Sian knew she needed to do some damage control quickly before things got out of hand. A wave of anger filled her when she realised Eunhyuk probably picked this moment to kiss her just to piss off Minseok. It was like he knew Minseok would be here anyways.

‘Our deal is over Eunhyuk, why don’t you go and get yourself something from the open bar, so I can talk to Minseok’ she commanded a bit more heartless than she intended. She stepped away from him and took a determined step towards Minseok. Eunhyuk didn’t seem to notice her coldness and turned on his heels to move towards the bar muttering ‘drama’ under his breath dramatically.

Before she had a chance to explain herself Minseok grabbed her wrist and moved them away from the crowd. The pace his quick and Sian can barely keep up in her stiletto heels. He leads them up the stairs into one of the smaller rooms on the first floor. ‘Minseok, I don’t think we’re supposed to be here’ Sian questioned.

‘Why is he here as your date’ Minseok’s voice was stern but the sound of hurt was crystal clear in it. ‘I…ehm…’ Sian had no idea how to explain this to Minseok. She couldn’t just tell him that she had felt such hatred for him after dreaming about someone who looked like him who did a bad thing.

‘Why did you cancel on me, to have a date with him? Are you two back together?’ Sian could clearly hear the panic in his voice and felt her heart break. He didn’t deserve this. He had been so good to her and just because she had a stupid dream, she avoided him.

‘It’s complicated. I’m afraid I can’t really explain why I cancelled’ she finally whispered knowing her voice was just loud enough for him to hear. ‘I didn’t expect you to actually be here though’ she explained daring to lift her eyes to meet his.

‘Kyungsoo and I used to go to school together and I got an invitation in the mail. I figured that I might as well go even if I wasn’t allowed to be your date. But I see you’ve replaced me with your ex, which frankly, kind of hurts my feelings’ he explained, and the honesty shot another arrow through Sian’s already bleeding heart.

‘I’m sorry’ Sian took his hand into hers and looked at him apologetically. ‘I’m sorry I made this mess. You don’t deserve that. Especially not since you’ve been such a gentleman and so incredibly patient with me’ her eyes moved to the floor unable to keep their gaze.

‘Why did you let him kiss you?’ Minseok’s voice was small and barely audible. Sian let the breath she was holding escape her and closed her eyes for better focus. ‘It was part of the deal of him being my date. He knew I needed someone quickly and gave me that ultimatum’. Minseok moved his hands away from hers.

‘So, you let him kiss you, and you _planned_ to ask him out after you rejected me?’ his voice broke and Sian looked up to see the tears in his eyes. She reached out her hand to touch his face, to let him know that she didn’t really want to reject him but that she couldn’t risk it, but Minseok jerked his head away from her hand and stepped away from her.

‘Minseok’ Sian pleaded but she could see in his eyes that she messed up too much ‘Leave it Sian’ he spat out her name and walked out, leaving Sian alone in the dark bedroom. She let herself slide down onto the floor and let the tears that had threatened to overflow run their course on her face.

Sian had no idea how long she spent sitting there crying in the dark. It wasn’t until Eunhyuk found her telling her everyone was worried about her whereabouts that she realised she was still at her best friends’ wedding. She had completely forgotten that this day was supposed to be enjoyable.

Eunhyuk lifted her up off the floor and guided her to the nearest bathroom. He sat her down on the toiletseat where he made quick work of fixing her make up. ‘Stop crying Si, you’re going to ruin it again’ he muttered when fresh tears fell from her eyes.

‘Since when are you a master in make-up?’ Sian asked between soft sobs. Her body still shaking a little from them. Her tears had stopped running down her face and ruining the make-up. Eunhyuk pulled a sour face ‘just some girl’ he muttered, clearly not wanting to talk about it.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked it was the first time since their breakup that Sian had seen him this genuinely concerned about her and it felt strangely familiar. He had been by her side for such a long time. They had shared a lot of bad moments but also many good ones and Sian kind of missed the stability of coming home to be greeted by someone.

She naively thought that the one-night stands might fill the emptiness she felt in her heart but seeing Minseok walk away from her like that made her realise that it wasn’t a person she was missing. It was a reciprocating love and appreciation that she missed in her life.

After he finishes her make-up he smiles at his handy work and Sian honestly thinks he didn’t do a bad job. She still hadn’t given him an answer to his question. She just stood up and threw her arms around his waist burying her face in his chest, but not too hard as to not ruin his work.

‘Thank you. I’m not really okay, but I will be eventually’ she muttered against his chest, not really daring to look at him. He just hummed and stroked her hair before planting a soft kiss on it.

Coming back to the party Baekhyun practically ran into her arms and started hugging her tightly. ‘I was scared you might have run off’ he muttered in her ear and Sian could hear the tears in his voice. ‘I wouldn’t leave without saying goodbye to my stupid best friend’ she muttered back willing the tears away again. Baekhyun just held a little tighter before dragging them both to the dancefloor.

‘I saw Minseok leave. He looked upset’ Baekhyun commented and Sian could feel the tears in her throat again. Eunhyuk threw Baekhyun a threatening glance slowly shaking his head, indicating that he needed to change the subject.

‘I think we have time for one or two dances before we have to leave’ Baekhyun suddenly smiled and spun Sian around. They danced excitingly to the song singing all the lyrics and just bopping to the music while singing.

After two songs Kyungsoo indicated that they had to leave for their honeymoon. Sian hugged them both tightly wishing them all the best on their honeymoon and told them she put a surprise in Baekhyun’s suitcase. She secretly slipped a gigantic bottle of lube and a few packs of condoms in there after she calmed Baekhyun down that morning.

Eunhyuk drove her home and insisted on walking her to her door. ‘Thank you again Eunhyuk, you literally saved the day today’ Sian smiled as she fumbled in her bag searching for the keys to her apartment. Eunhyuk suddenly stepped closed and pushed Sian against the door.

She inhaled sharply at the unexpected move. He looked at her intently before attaching their lips together. It took Sian a second to register what exactly was happening but once she did she pushed him away quickly. ‘Eunhyuk!’ she exclaimed ‘One kiss was the deal and you already had that one’ the anger clearly laced in her voice. He just chuckled. ‘That one wasn’t planned and this one was’.

‘Go home’ Sian exclaimed and Eunhyuk just laughed. Walking away from her slowly, not taking his eyes off her until the lift doors closed. Sian released the breath she was holding quickly and made her way inside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> tam tam tammmmm... Drama is real :)  
> Let me know what you think will happen next!


	11. Chapter Eleven

****

**Joseon 1400**

After the ordeal in the palace’s courtyard Soheon put some distance between herself and the prince. Strangely she seemed to have more difficulty with this than she imagined. Her heart ached at the thought of what Won Jeong had done. Yet she also missed the intimacy they had shared.

Ever since the night they had slept together there was a silent agreement that they would sleep in the same bed. Even with her being angry at him after the ordeal she lay next to him when he asked. She didn’t get close enough for him to touch her. She couldn’t do that yet and he seemed to respect that.

He had given the order to kill the love of her life. He was the one responsible for the child in her stomach now growing up without his father. Yet her heart yearned for him so much. For his touch on her body and his lips on her lips. How could her heart be so foolish as to fall for this tyrant prince?

She didn’t allow him to explain the situation. Every time he tried to bring up the topic to defend his case Soheon would simply walk away. He had ordered her once to stay put but Soheon simply shouted ‘No, I’m done doing what you say’ before walking away

She couldn’t deal with his excuses yet. Her heart was too weak for him and would forgive him too easily. She couldn’t just forgive him for taking away the love of her life. However, she knew she couldn’t avoid him forever as her wedding day was tomorrow.

‘I’m sorry your majesty we have to adjust your dress again, it seems you’ve grown since our last fitting’ the maid bowed apologetically. Most women would consider it an insult to be called out on putting on weight, but Soheon knew this wasn’t from overeating.

‘It is fine, Mirra. Let’s just adjust it with the silk string in the back so we can adjust the size to whatever necessary for tomorrow. The fabric will be hanging over it mostly, so people won’t notice a thing’ Soheon smiled warmly to the petite woman and it seemed to calm her down a little.

She nodded in reply and immediately went to work. Lacing silk string on the lines of the dress in such a way that they could be loosened or tightened where necessary. If there was anyone who was good at designing the most beautiful gowns it was Mirra. However, society didn’t allow her to pursue the career herself. So, she does create and design dresses, but all her gowns are released under her father’s name.

Soheon usually hated it when people dressed her. She found it almost insulting as if she was unable to put fabric over her own body in a decent way. Yet, as a princess you weren’t supposed to do anything yourself. She didn’t mind it as much when Mirra was working her magic as they had become friends.

Luckily, Soheon tried to befriend all her staff as soon as they started working for her. That way they wouldn’t protest as much if she rejected one of their services and did them herself instead. This is how Yixing and her got close so quickly.

He had been one who quickly realised that Soheon was a free spirit with a stubborn mind. He knew that if she put her mind to something she could do it, and he learned to also let her do it without taking any of the work away from her. Sometimes he would want to protest and help her out but refrained from doing so in the end. He would then settle for commenting that she missed out on something. Earning a scowl from Soheon in return.

She had been spending a lot of time with Yixing after the revelation with Won Jeong in the palace. He had run out of the palace, unable to stay with the prince any longer. She didn’t want to go to her dress fitting. She couldn’t cope with the idea of marrying the bastard.

_When she came home Yixing had been waiting to take her to the dress fitting. However, when he saw Soheon’s tear stained face he ordered his assistant to reschedule the meeting straight away._

_‘He did it Yixing, he killed Jonghyun. He made my child fatherless’ she sobbed into his chest. He just held her stroking her hair lightly and swaying them both softly. He started humming a song softly to calm her down_

_‘I know it is hard to see now So, but things will come around again’ he had muttered eventually when her crying had calmed down. She looked at him through her tears. He was probably right, she knew, but she couldn’t picture it at this moment._

_‘Why can’t I just marry you and never have to deal with him?’ Soheon wondered out loud which made Yixing chuckle. He pushed a stray strand of her hair behind her ear._

_‘I’m afraid that even in a perfect world, it couldn’t happen’ he murmured cryptically. Soheon looked at him in confusion not sure why a perfect world wouldn’t see the possibility of their marriage. If she wasn’t betrothed to the prince right now she would’ve jumped at the chance to marry her best friend. It just simply wasn’t an option._

_‘In a perfect world, I would marry the prince, not the princess’ he explained and Soheon gasped loudly smacking her hand over her mouth. ‘You are gay?’ she asked as if the answer hadn’t been crystal clear already. He simply nodded bowing his head apologetically._

_‘I’m sorry, Soheon’ he apologised, and Soheon almost shot meters into the air to protest his apology. ‘Are you kidding? Don’t be sorry. I’m your best friend, I feel bad for not realising this sooner’ she comforted pulling him into a hug this time._

_‘There’s more’ he mumbled against her neck trying to hide his embarrassment in her neck. She released them from their embrace. Silently urging him on to share his story. A blush crept up her best friend’s face and Soheon’s curiosity almost reached its peak before he started speaking._

_‘So, I’m not strictly against women. I just usually prefer men and well I’ve been harbouring this gigantic crush on the prince for some years now and…. I can’t believe I’m confessing to this. I imagined us a few times in that’ he hid his face in his hands from embarrassment._

_‘Us? As in you and the prince?’ Soheon asked but Yixing shook his head frantically laughing nervously now. ‘Not just me and the prince, you as well’ he confessed and this time it was Soheon who hid her face in her hands. She must admit that she had never thought about being with two others but had never been closed off to the idea either. It made her rather shy._

_‘So, you have a crush on my husband-to-be and just add me to your fantasies for convenience?’ Soheon could barely believe those exact words were leaving her own mouth. Yixing was blushing frantically again and urged them to change the subject quickly._

 

The turning point in Soheon’s behaviour towards the prince had been the morning of their wedding when they were treated to breakfast in bed and Soheon forgot about her anger towards the prince completely. She let him feed her with his own mouth, she let his hands roam her body once more realising exactly how much she had missed his touch.

The weather was absolutely perfect for a spring wedding. It was sunny with a timid breeze crossing the palace’s gardens that were filled to the brink with people. Today was Soheon and Won Jeong’s wedding day and everyone who was even slightly important was invited to the ceremony.

The ceremony had already started with Won Jeong offering a wild goose to Soheon’s family. As Soheon was without her mother, her father accepted the gift in her place. Soheon felt the familiar pang of missing her mother. Even though she had been young when she lost her it still hurt to not have her there for these important occasions.

Mirra had arranged her underdress to be laced with beautiful silk threads so her partly showing belly wasn’t visible with the tight daedae that hugged her figure. Soheon could kiss her with how pretty it turned out and how her starting pregnancy wasn’t showing at all in the gown.

The Dangui was a deep emerald green with red, purple and pink patches on the large sleeves and golden embroidered details. Soheon looked like a real princess with the Hwagwan placed firmly on her head. It was slightly uncomfortable and very heavy because of all the jewellery hanging off it, but it made her posture look absolutely perfect.

Soheon glanced over at her soon-to-be husband who was almost done with his part of the ceremony. Soheon’s father glanced over at her before accepting the wild goose as if he was asking her permission. She smiled and gave a nod of acceptance and then he was handed the bird from his son-in-law.

Won Jeong was dressed in a beautiful maroon coloured gown that really brought the colour of his eyes out. Soheon could feel herself fall under his spell again as her heart sped up when he looked up at her and smiled discreetly.

They moved on to the next part of the ceremony which involved a lot of bowing. This was a symbolic promise from husband and wife to commit to each other. They were placed opposite of each other with the wedding table in between them. Soheon’s bride’s maids washed her hands and she saw how Won Jeong’s helpers washed his.

It is expected that both bride and groom don’t show any sign of emotion during this part of the ceremony which proved to be quite difficult for Soheon. There were so many questions still roaming her head, so many doubts about the man she was marrying but she couldn’t show any sign of it to him, or anyone else.

With each bow she wanted to send him the questions in her mind or explain her feelings, but he didn’t pick up on any of the things in her brain. This part of the ceremony ended with them both kneeling before each other as a sign of full commitment.

Soheon could feel the sting of tears in her eyes. She wanted to fully commit to her husband, but her heart was in a full-blown war with her brain. A thought of Jonghyun briefly crossed her mind. What would her life have been like if she had married him? Would she be happy?

She grabbed her stomach instinctively at the thoughts. A part of him was still with her and strangely enough that made her deal with this situation a lot better. He or she would have a stable family home and Soheon honestly believed that Won Jeong could be a good dad, even with the flaws that made her heart doubt everything.

The thing she worried about now was the drinking ritual. It generally involved rice wine and after the last encounter Soheon didn’t want to drink a single drop of alcohol again. Maybe she could just pretend to drink before passing it on. It wasn’t like you were supposed to finish the drink anyways. You were supposed to take a sip from the same cup as your husband’s symbolising the harmony between man and wife.

The cup was handed to Won Jeong who took a delicate sip from the cup before giving it to his helpers who were supposed to present the cup to Soheon’s helpers halfway. The cup was carefully placed in Soheon’s hands.

She glanced at the transparent liquid before bringing the cup to her lips. She let the liquid briefly touch her lips before lowering the cup again. Carefully wiping her mouth to make sure none of the liquid made it past there. Nobody seemed to notice that Soheon hadn’t actually taken a sip. She briefly wondered if her actions would influence her future with Won Jeong as her husband but quickly let go of the thought.

After the eating and drinking ritual of the wedding the bride and groom were lead to a separate room where they would get advice on their marriage from both their parents. Once Won Jeong and Soheon were seated in the tiny room the door closed and they were alone for a brief moment.

‘I’m sorry’ Won Jeong mumbled which made Soheon’s head shoot up in surprise. She hadn’t expected him to talk about anything. ‘Why?’ was all the new princess could mutter. ‘I’m sorry I am the one to end up as your husband. I’m sorry I have to cage you like this. I’m sorry I’m not your precious stable boy’ the words sounded sincere and Soheon suddenly felt bad.

‘Don’t be sorry. For some silly reason, I’m attracted to you. So, I don’t think this marriage will be as much of a cage as you think’ she tried to smile but with the thought of Jonghyun in her head it wasn’t completely sincere.

‘I miss moments like this more than anything’ the prince sighed not taking his eyes off the door. ‘what kind of moments?’ Soheon asked her eyes still fixed on the prince. He was pretty as ever and Soheon had to admit that she had missed talking to him as well.

‘The moments where we’re open and honest with each other’ he said finally meeting Soheon’s glance. She smiled in understanding. She had missed those honest confessions between them as well. For a brief moment in those they would both feel unburdened by the world because they had someone to share their worries with.

‘Promise me that now that we’re married we won’t lose those moments’ the prince pleaded grabbing Soheon’s small hands in his own large ones. They looked at each other, and in the moment where their eyes locked Soheon wanted to give him the world.

‘I promise. In fact, I’ll start right now’ Soheon took a deep breath. Nerves suddenly shot through her entire body. What if he didn’t accept it? What if he would stop the whole wedding ceremony because of it? Soheon took another deep breath to give her courage.

‘I’m with child’ she looked at her hands as she was too afraid of the prince’s reaction to look at him. The silence in the room was almost deafening and Soheon still didn’t dare to look up at her prince.

‘Is that possible, so quickly?’ his voice was almost a whisper which made Soheon finally look up at him. She nodded, which technically wasn’t a lie. His eyes grew wider and a smile crossed his face briefly before being replaced by concern.

‘are you sure?’ the prince asked worriedly, though his face was all smiles. Soheon released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. ‘Pretty much’ she finally muttered a little shy now. This went a lot better than she had hoped.

When the door opened, and her father and his mother walked in, Soheon expected Won Jeong to let go of her hand but he kept their fingers intertwined. Soheon’s heart leapt, maybe her heart had finally warmed up to the prince again.

Soheon’s father sat down in front of her and smiled kindly to her and Won Jeong. His mother was the complete opposite as she threw both of them icy glances. The prince squeezed Soheon’s hand softly indicating that she shouldn’t worry about his mother now that he was by her side.

Their shared advice had been simple and straight forward. Stay true to each other and produce heirs to carry on the family name. After that the parents were allowed to give separate advice to the married couple and it was Soheon’s father who got the privilege of being first.

He had grabbed both their hands in his and looked at Soheon sincerely. ‘My dear child, I can see that you’ve finally opened your heart to the prince. Please don’t close it again’ her father advised and a blushed crept up Soheon’s face. She couldn’t look at her father.

How could he even know that her heart was so sneakily stolen by the prince, she hadn’t told anyone about that yet. He smiled at her once more warmly before aiming his attention at Won Jeong. ‘If you break her heart, I’ll break you’ he simply stated and Soheon saw her husband swallow thickly.

She placed her free hand on the small of his back to ground him again. ‘Don’t worry, dad. He even allows me to call him Minseok now’ Soheon joked and she felt the prince release his breath before looking at her in confusion. She winked discretely at him before returning her attention to her father.

‘He’s taking good care of me dad, why do you think I’ve fallen for him’ she explained and smiled at the memory of her and the prince in their bed that morning feeding each other breakfast in bed.

Her father finally smiled warmly at the both of them. ‘Then I wish you both the best and may both your lives be long and prosperous’. He bowed politely at them before standing up and leaving the room quietly.

Won Jeong searched for her hand again without taking his eyes off the door. Soheon happily provided her hand and lifted both their hands to her lips, placing a soft kiss on the skin. ‘I’m sorry’ Soheon mumbled against the skin of his hand afraid to look at him. She had been so angry that she forgot that it might have hurt him as much as it hurt her.

The Prince’s eyes finally shifted from the door to her as he looked at her questioningly. She didn’t get a chance to explain why exactly she was sorry and why she felt a sudden urge to apologise to him in this moment because his mother barged into the room loudly. Soheon dropped their hands quickly but the prince held his grip on hers, so she placed them discretely under the table.

His mother sat down in front of the prince and didn’t even look at her. ‘So, when is she moving to the palace?’ his mother asked bluntly.

‘She’s not’ the prince simply stated. ‘She is staying right with me in our house’ his voice was void of emotions and his mother barked a loud laugh. "This isn't just about you. It's about what's best for all of us. She has to move to the palace and you know it."

‘Mother, you don’t have to talk about her like she’s not there. She is sitting here right beside me and can hear you perfectly fine’ Soheon saw how the prince locked his jaws in anger after he was done speaking. She knew he felt a lot angrier than he let on and she squeezed his hand to comfort him.

‘I know she is right there’ his mother continued as she turned towards Soheon. ‘After your wedding night you need to spend some time with me at court and I will teach you how to be a real princess’ she spoke incredibly slow as if Soheon wouldn’t understand her if she sped up her speech.

‘Eh…’ Soheon started but Won Jeong interrupted. ‘There’s no need for that mother. Soheon has already proven to be a good princess and wife already’ he explained but his mother still seemed unconvinced.

‘You will join me at court’ she directed at Soheon ‘As for you, young man, you will do as I tell you. No arguing’. This has Won Jeong spewing his anger Soheon put her other hand over their intertwined ones, a subtle warning to him not to overstep too much.  

‘No! I’m tired of doing what you say, mother. Unlike you and father, we actually care about each other so, no, I’m not putting her through that’ Won Jeong’s eyes shot fire towards his mother who was finally silent. It seemed to come as a surprise to the Queen that they had grown to like each other.

She blinked a few times blankly staring ahead before she spoke again. ‘Alright, then my advice ends here’ his mother spoke and the quiver in her voice broke Soheon’s heart a little. As heartless as his mother had always been to her, she couldn’t imagine what the rejection of your own son must feel like.

‘Thanks for your advice mother. Now please leave so we can continue the ceremony’ Won Jeong spoke flatly his voice void of all emotion. However, Soheon knew that him putting up this voice meant that there was much more underlying emotion to it.

His mother left the room the newlyweds got up to go back outside for the last bit of the ceremony. Just before they opened the door Won Jeong used their still intertwined hands to pull Soheon towards him. When she hit his chest, he let her hand go to use both his hands to cup her face.

‘I’m sorry about my mother’ he whispered against her lips. Soheon’s eyes looked up at his but he had his eyes closed, a sign of him trying to regain control over his emotions.

‘It’s nothing. I’ve been trained to become a princess by her most of my life. I’m used to it’ Soheon muttered and a grin spread across the price’s face.

‘What were you sorry about before?’ the prince asked the emotion still audible in his voice, as it wavered a little. Soheon took a deep breath. She wasn’t sure if she should confess now or wait until the ceremony was over.

‘I…’ she started but had to clear her throat as emotions took over. ‘I’m sorry I’ve been so mean to you lately. I was just angry about the order you gave to kill another man and…’ tears were now dripping from her eyes as she couldn’t contain it any longer.

‘I loved him, Won. I loved him, and you killed him, and I was angry. I didn’t know what to do’ she sobbed softly. The prince used the pad of his thumb to clear away the tears on Soheon’s face.

‘I know you loved him. I’m sorry it had to happen, but you need to know that he planned to execute me and my entire family. He was planning a coup with a few other people and he needed to be stopped.’ Soheon gasped loudly at the declaration slowly lifting her hand over her open mouth.

She could barely believe that Jonghyun would be capable of such a thing until she remembered the conversation he had with a friend one night, while she was there. Talking about how the ‘royals’ were disgusting leeches that didn’t care about the people.

Jonghyun had always been opposed the monarchy which might have been why Soheon fell for him in the first place. Jonghyun seemed to be an escape from her predetermined life as a princess. He felt like a safe escape within the palace walls and he had been smooth enough to let her fall for him, knowing she was a princess and it was incredibly dangerous for her.

Maybe she had been so obsessed with escaping that she missed the signs. The more she thought about it the more sense it made for him to want to announce their relationship publicly, even though he knew that would be the end of Soheon’s life inside the palace walls, she would’ve been exiled if anyone had found out.

‘I… I didn’t know…’ she finally muttered fresh tears filling her eyes. ‘I’m sorry. I never realised what it might have been like for you. I just thought about my own pain’ she explained finally having the courage to look up at the prince.

‘You’re an extraordinary woman Soheon’ he declared before attaching their lips into a soft kiss. Most their kisses before had been out of either anger or lust but this one was filled with a softness that made Soheon’s heart summersault in her chest as she closed her eyes.

‘ _I love you’_

It was so soft that Soheon almost didn’t catch it, but she did, and her eyes shot open. The momentum of the kiss long forgotten. The prince grinned widely and grabbed one of her hands again before they stepped through the doors. For the first time officially as husband and wife.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> \-------------
> 
> A/N
> 
> Hey, I'm sorry It's been so long since I uploaded. Life kinda happened and is still happening. 
> 
> I'm in the process of rounding off my Masters AND I have to move back to my home country in four weeks. So the next few uploads might be a bit further apart even. I'm devoted to the story so I won't give up on it (though I've thought about it a few times I must admit). 
> 
> I'm too attached to the characters now and their stories need to be told. Please be a little more patient and in the meantime let me know what you think might happen to the characters in the future!!


	12. Chapter twelve

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here we are again, strap in for a bucket of information that will become more and more clear in the coming chapters! please enjoy

****

**South Korea 2018**

Sian opened her eyes and groaned audibly. Why was her heart fluttering like that too? Soheon was so easily persuaded into her own demise. Sian was slowly starting to get really frustrated by the woman in her dreams. Where she had been intrigued by their striking similarities, not just in looks, before she now easily saw what made them different.

Soheon was someone who needed constant rescuing by someone else and Sian felt she could deal with her own life pretty well. With that she remembered what she had done to Minseok and groaned once more. Okay maybe she wasn’t perfect in dealing with her own life but she sure as hell wasn’t as easily rescued as Soheon.

It was true that Minseok didn’t deserve the way Sian had treated him. She wondered why she was so scared of him figuring out about her dreams. Was she scared he and Won Jeong were the same person? That was impossible. Won Jeong lived in 1400 and Minseok lived in 2018 with her. However vivid her dreams were, Minseok was _not_ Won Jeong.

Maybe she just had to get away for a few days. Get out of the situation with Minseok and Eunhyuk. Get a fresh breath of air and get back to why she has been in Seoul in the first place. She sighed and knew that the real reason she came to the city wasn’t something she could easily go back to. She grabbed her phone from the bedside table and dialled a familiar number.

‘Hey mom, is it okay if I come over for a few days?’ Sian asked tentatively. She hadn’t seen her mother in ages, which was not the real reason she wanted to visit her. She needed to get away from the city. Away from Minseok. Away from Eunhyuk to properly figure some things out. She hadn’t even told her mother about her breakup with Eunhyuk yet.

‘Of course, That’s okay baby, I’ve missed you. I really want to clear out the attic, so you can come and help me if you’d like’ Her mother exclaimed enthusiastically. Sian felt happy she had a place to escape the city _and_ something to thoroughly distract her while she was there. Even if that meant spending all day cleaning the messy and dusty attic.

‘I’d be happy to help mum, I’ll see you this afternoon’. Her mother ordered her to eat a proper breakfast before stepping in the car and to make sure to drive safe. Sian smiled, the one stable thing in her life had always been her mother. Ever since Sian’s father passed away Sian had seen up close how strong her mother really was.

She had to deal with raising her little brother on her own. A few months after Sian’s 20th birthday she had to see her off to Seoul, leaving her and her little brother alone. Yet, she never complained about any hardships she had experienced on top of losing the love of her life. She was always happy and positive the second Sian entered the house.

Though she must admit her mother had a very different way of living than Sian had. Sian enjoyed the comfort of modern life where her mother was a little more old-fashioned in her way of living. Her mother strongly believed in legends and how your future could be foretold by some sort of Shaman. Sian never believed in that. She was more like her father in that respect, calm, collected and above all realistic. Except when it came to love. 

Her parents’ love had been the reason why Sian still believed in the fairy tale kind of love. She had seen it in her parents and was sure that it was out there for her somewhere. She didn’t mind waiting for it and fooling around a little in the meantime as she was certain she would get it too eventually.

The drive to Muju, Sian’s hometown, was about 3 hours but Sian didn’t mind the drive as it went straight through a nature reserve and the view from the car was absolutely magnificent. With her favourite CDs in the player and the volume at the ‘hurts your ears’ setting she set off.

˜˜˜˜˜

‘Mom, I’m home’ Sian shouted as soon as she entered the door. She left her shoes in the hall and made her way straight towards the kitchen. She could smell her mother’s cooking from outside and it made her stomach rumble. As expected Sian found her mother in the kitchen in front of the stove cooking up something that smelled like Bulgogi and Kimchi Fried Rice.

Sian walked up behind her mom and hugged her tiny frame from behind, leaning her head on her mother’s shoulder. They stood like that for a while just soaking in each other’s company while her mother finished her cooking.

Sian tried to steal some of the beef from the pan when her mother wasn’t looking but her mother had hawk eyes and hit Sian’s hand with a spoon. ‘Ow, I missed you too mom’ Sian whined as she retreated her hand quickly and rubbed the place she hit. ‘Patience, my dear, it’s almost done. Why don’t you go set up the table?’ her mother ordered. ‘I’m surprised you still call me dear’ Sian muttered and set out to do her task.

The second their plates were filled, Sian started munching like she hadn’t eaten at all that day. She had, as instructed by her mother, had a full breakfast before she let but there was nothing quite like home-cooked food by her mother. She looked up to find her mother smiling warmly at her. ‘You always eat like you haven’t seen any food in weeks’ she giggled softly, there was no malice in her voice just warmth and understanding.

‘I’m just hungry, and I happen to like food a lot.’ Sian replied her mouth still full of rice and bulgogi making it almost impossible to enunciate properly. Her mother grimaced slightly at the behaviour and Sian quickly went back to finishing her food. As her mother went to do the dishes, which she insisted on doing without Sian’s help, Sian decided to roam around the living room a little. She hadn’t been here in over a year, but everything was still exactly the same. She paused at the photo of her dad. It was the photo they used for his memorial.

The photo was taken on their last holiday together and Sian had always found that that photo pictured her dad exactly as he was. Kind, warm but also strict and realistic when it was needed. There was no room for dreaming with her father. If you wanted something you had to work for it.

‘So how was the wedding?’ her mother asked after she had returned with a big mug of herbal tea for the both of them. Sian grabbed one of the mugs from the tray and warmed her hands on it, still staring at the photo of her dad.

‘You know, fucking beautiful and perfect’ Sian said in a sarcastic tone but they both knew that she meant nothing mean with it. ‘Eunhyuk helped with the photos and that saved me so much stress. He made sure everyone was in the right position, so I didn’t have to run around making sure everyone was where they should be.’ She turned back towards her mother and joined her at the small coffee table.

‘How is he? Does he still work at that godawful bank office?’ Her mother replied and the realisation of the whole situation and the reason Sian came here in the first place came bubbling up again. It must have shown on her face as her mother immediately apologised

‘Did something happen between you?’ she asked after a while and Sian realised that if anyone would understand, it would be her mother.

‘We broke up, mom. A while ago actually. I just didn’t have the heart to tell you. I mean you always got along so well and I don’t know. I didn’t want to disappoint you.’ Sian finally confessed, and her mother put one hand out on the table. A clear invitation for Sian to put her hand in hers. When she did her mother closed her fingers around Sian’s and put her other hand on top of both of theirs.

‘Sian, my dear, you will never disappoint me. I’m your mother and I’m always proud of you. No boy is every going to change that.’ She smiled warmly at her daughter giving her hand an encouraging squeeze before returning to her tea. Sian’s eyes moved back to the picture of her father. She wondered what he would’ve thought of Eunhyuk, if he would’ve liked him as much as her mother seemed to have done. Or if he would’ve liked Minseok.

‘So, what happened’ her mother questioned, and Sian took a big sigh before telling her the whole story. About how Eunhyuk had become aggressive the first time he got home drunk, how he had hit her multiple times but apologised in sobs the second he was sober again. How she had grown used to the emotional and physical abuse because she was so scared to end up alone in that city. And how she had found him cheating with his secretary and finally mustered the courage to kick him out.

‘Oh baby, I’m so sorry’ her mother cried as she made her way to the other side of the table to pull Sian into her embrace. She started stroking her hair softly, the way she always did whenever Sian was upset as a kid and for a moment Sian let herself cry into her mother’s arms, letting the weight slide off her shoulders with every stroke.

‘So why did you take him to wedding then?’ her mother finally asked. Sian sighed shakily.

‘That’s a long story as well. I was going to take this boy who is the striking image of a guy in my dreams, but well. In my dreams he wasn’t so nice, so I guess I chickened out and needed a last resort, and frankly Eunhyuk had been a surprisingly pleasant date.’ She looked up at her mother who gave her a knowing look.

‘Another boy huh?’ she simply said, and Sian pushed herself up and away from her mother trying to dismiss the subject, but her mother wasn’t having any of it. ‘Tell me about him’ she demanded. Sian rolled her eyes and started explaining how she had been having these dreams about a prince and princess in the Joseon era and that one day she had to deliver coffees to a company where she met this man who was the living image of the man in her dreams. With every word her mother’s eyes grew wider.

‘Go get the cleaning supplies from the closet, I’ll meet you upstairs.’ she said and disappeared promptly leaving Sian behind in the dining room. Telling her mother about the dreams had provided her with a bit of relief. It was nice knowing that no matter what happened he mother would always support her.

‘Mom I’m coming up! OUCH!’ Sian rubbed the place her head hit one of the wooden beams quickly as if she could rub the pain away like that. She briefly checked her hand to see if the impact had caused the skin to break but everything seemed fine apart from the slight stinging pain that now oozed from the top of her skull. She carefully climbed onto the attic floor making sure she didn’t bump her head again and put the cleaning supplies down.

‘Hey there, careful, come here look what I found’ her mother exclaimed enthusiastically from the other side of the room. The attic had always given Sian the creeps. The space was open and dusty covering the whole width of the house but was only lit by one window at the far end and a single lightbulb in the middle of the space. Sian made her way over and saw that her mother was surrounded by a bunch of thick old books with beautiful writing decorating them. They all seemed handmade and really old.

‘What are all these?’ Sian marvelled picking up one herself. She blew the dust off the board making herself cough in the process and read the letters engraved in the emerald coloured spine ‘History of Korea’. She looked around the stack of books reading their titles and quickly found a trend amongst them.

‘There are all about the Joseon period, is there something special about that time?’ Sian looked over at her mother who was too deeply engaged in the contents of a notebook to really notice her question. Sian let it go and focused back on the book in her hands. The golden lettering on the cover. She opened the book on the page that showed a portrait of a Queen.

_Queen Soheon (12 October 1380 – 19 April 1401) was queen consort to King Sejong of Joseon and the mother of Munjong of Joseon._

Sian let her fingers wander over the text. That name. Soheon. It was the name of the women in her dreams. However, Sian knew that the woman in her dreams was no Queen and that since Won Jeong had an older brother it would be unlikely for her to ever become queen. So, it couldn’t be the same person.

‘Found it’ her mother blurted suddenly which shocked Sian out of her own reading. She placed the book carefully on the table and walked over to where her mother was sitting down on the floor and listened as she read out loud.

_‘The woman who is burdened with the curse will be shown the man in her dreams. Later she will meet the likeness of the man in her everyday life. However, they are not the same person at all. It appears that they are simply look-a-likes. It is certain that the woman is shown the history of her fate through her dreams.’_

Sian looked at her mother in awe, her mouth slightly open. There were more people with the same type of situation as hers? Her mother held up a bunch of pictures and portraits all of completely different eras but all showing the same exact woman. All showing Sian. 

Sian knew very well that it wasn’t her in those pictures as she had no memory of them but glancing over at the mirror she saw that both her and the women in the pictures looked exactly the same. She rubbed her head again feeling the bump that formed after she had hit her head clearly now and wondered if she was hallucinating.

‘How is that even possible?’ Sian whispered her fingers back on one of the pictures her mother had given to her, slowly tracing the outline of the woman’s face. Her mother gave her a sympathetic smile, and Sian noticed that she was surprisingly calm. ‘You knew?’ She questioned her voice a mix of surprise and disappointment and her mother sighed.

‘I suspected something when your aunt came over talking about how she had seen your face in some weird exhibition on women who made a difference throughout history. I told her this was impossible, but she insisted. She had even taken a photo, illegally, to prove her point. I started researching it and found more women who looked exactly like you and people trying to find out the story behind it.’ Her mother explained all the while not looking at Sian. ‘Then Mrs. Mun from across the street told me about this legend of a woman having done something so horrible she couldn’t look at herself anymore and then she was forced to wear the same face for the rest of eternity to live with the shame.’ Her mother rattled on and on and Sian was starting to lose her temper.

One of the reasons she wanted to leave this place was because she had always felt like an outsider in this town. In Muju there was a great community that followed the rituals of Shamanism a type of religion that Sian had never believed in. She had been made a fool of by people in her town having them call her names just because she didn’t think like them. Her father had always shared her beliefs, but he had been more discrete in showing his beliefs to the world.

‘So, what, I’m the town freak now on top of already being the outcast?’ Sian exploded the anger of feeling left out taking over her consciousness. She couldn’t believe her mother kept something like this from her, it was about her. She closed her eyes briefly to regain her senses. She took a deep breath before walking back to the bucket of cleaning supplies she had dragged up the stairs.

As expected her mind had immediately wandered back to her dreams and how this all linked to each other and to Minseok whom she had hurt so much. She grabbed one of the cloths and started dusting a corner of the room. Her mother had luckily picked up on her change in mood and didn’t mention any part of the story further.

The attic was filled with bookshelves that were lined with rows and rows of books, as her father had been an avid collector of books. As she was dusting the shelves and books her eyes fell on one particular book. It did not stand out in size nor appearance, as a matter of fact the book was quite worn down, but Sian recognised it immediately and remembers it well. It was The Trial by Franz Kafka and it was her father’s favourite book.

Before her father died he had been one of the most influential lawyers in Korea. Together with his partner Jae Don, or Mr. Kim as Sian was supposed to call him. They had been together at the very top until Mr. Kim’s secret came out during a public trial. He had never been fully trained in the workings of the law and paid people under the table to work out his trials for him.

It had humiliated her father so much that he almost gave up the profession completely. Eventually he went back out there and made a name for himself and got back on top, alone this time. He always dreamed about Sian taking over the firm which is why Sian moved to Seoul in the first place after her father had died. She wanted to go to law school and make his last dream come true.

It turned out that law school was torture for Sian as every single thing reminded her of her father and how much she missed him. Yes, the terminology and knowledge came almost naturally but she had been incredibly depressed, crying herself to sleep every single night she had been there. Which is why she decided to drop out of law school and start her own company, a coffee shop.

She grabbed the copy off the shelf and opened it carefully making sure the thing wouldn’t fall apart in her hands. Inside the cover she recognised the neat handwriting of her father. _‘Soo Kil Chang – Student of Law, class of ‘87’_. Sian let her fingers touch the handwriting as if it would somehow connect her to her father. She flipped a few pages and saw his little scribbles in the margins. In two weeks the anniversary of her father’s death would come knocking at her door again but with this she felt more connected to him. She turned to her mother and held up the book to her.

‘Mind if I take this’ it wasn’t really a question as much as an announcement of her taking her father’s favourite novel. It secretly made her miss her time at law school a bit. Now that she had learned to cope with her father’s death and the empty void in her life properly, she might want to take up on studying again. Her mother hummed in approval, trying to read the atmosphere to see if Sian was still angry about what had happened before. They spent a while cleaning the attic in a more comfortable silence until her mother called in a break for tea.

They spend the rest of the day slowly dusting every nook and cranny of the attic but never got around to actually clear out anything before it got too dark to continue working. Sian and her mother had dinner as she told her mother a little more about Minseok. The next morning Sian came downstairs to her mother setting up the table for breakfast. She had cooked all the dishes Sian liked and from the smell only Sian’s mouth started to salivate.

‘Now don’t get mad but what do you say about going to Madsy today. Maybe she can read into the story we found, or if not, that then maybe give some clarity to the dreams you’ve been having and if they have any effect on this boy you were talking about.’ Her mother really did try to keep the mood light and unforceful and Sian had to admit that after a good night sleep she was less grumpy about the whole story.

Madsy was Muju’s own Mudang, the female intermediate between the gods and the people. People in this area still very much believed in Shamanism and how people like Madsy could communicate with the gods and tell you about your fortune and future. Sian had never liked the Shaman rituals as they creeped her out too much, but she had nothing against Madsy personally. 

‘Alright then. Don’t expect me to blindly believe her immediately though’ Sian cautioned, and she could she her mother’s eyes light up with excitement. ‘It’s going to be so much fun!’ she squealed and pulled Sian into a tight hug.

So, after cleaning up the dining area after breakfast they set out to go and see Madsy. Madsy lived on top of the highest hill in Muju because that would mean she would be living closer to the gods and the place could only be reached by foot. It was a twenty-minute hike up the hill but the whole trip provided you with the best sights in the whole of Muju and its neighbouring towns so, Sian didn’t mind.

The pungent smell of incense overwhelmed Sian as she walked into a little room on the side of Madsy’s house. Madsy was a tiny woman only about a decade older than Sian herself but she had been chosen as the village’s mudang after she apparently had had prophetic dreams. Sian had never believed it any of it and was thus labelled as the outcast.

Madsy never seemed to be the only one who didn’t mind that Sian didn’t belief. She had always been friendly towards Sian which made the whole situation worse for Sian. Whenever Sian and Madsy started a conversation when they bumped into each other in town, one of the villagers would go off to Sian. Calling her a heathen and devils’ child, saying she should stay far away from their precious Madsy for she could anger the gods with her mere presence.

Madsy always offered her a sympathetic smile before saying her goodbyes quickly. It had been the smile that always threw Sian off and often she wished she could’ve just pretended to believe so people would leave her alone. That same smile was there again as Madsy walked into the room where her and her mother were sat.

‘How can I help you ladies’ she asked calmly no trace of impatience or surprise in her voice. Sian opened her mouth to speak but nothing came out and frankly she didn’t know where to start. The whole story sounded ridiculous when said out loud and Sian found herself too ashamed to tell it. Luckily for her, her mother had none of that shame and started telling Sian’s story for her. From the dreams she had been having, to meeting Minseok to the information they had found in the attic.

‘… So what we’re asking is if you could perhaps see something in her future that could ease her mind, or tell us something more about the dreams and what they mean.’ Her mother finished the story and Madsy’s eyes had doubled in size.

‘I’ve only heard legends of this, I never thought it would happen to someone in such a small village’ she confessed her voice slightly unsure. Her mother shot Sian a knowing look as if to say ‘I told you so’ but Sian paid her no mind as she returned her attention to Madsy

‘What legend?’ she croaked trying to keep calm and collected while her voice was giving away her true feelings of dread. Sure, she never believed in legends and gods because they never affected her life directly. Now, those dreams had caused her to break someone’s heart and confuse herself in the process. Madsy looked at her with those sympathetic eyes once more.

‘There is an old legend affecting many families but only one person within that family. The legend goes that a woman’s face is returning throughout history in search for her true love. The woman looks exactly the same, whatever era she is born in, but doesn’t know her fate until she starts to dream about her past. The story in her dreams is not a happy one but it needs to be told in order for the woman to make a decision about her life and the man she loves.’

A small gasp could be heard from Sian’s mother and she knew that her mother believed every single word of what Madsy just said, but Sian wasn’t as easily persuaded. ‘That’s Interesting, however, we aren’t here for fairy tales, we’re here for a reading’ Sian promptly changed the topic hoping the two other women in the room wouldn’t notice her sudden discomfort.

‘Right’ Madsy replied ‘place your hands on the table, palms facing up and close your eyes. I can’t tell you if the reading will be about your past or your future as I have no control over that. It could be either a premonition or a past story you need to hear to move on in life. Either way, I couldn’t tell you which it is since you need to figure that out yourself.’

She monotonously explained the facts, which Sian knew she did like this because it was Sian sitting right there. She would’ve made more of a show of it when it would’ve been anyone else. Sian silently thanked her for doing this as it kept her calm enough to place her hands on the table without having to question the whole ordeal she found herself in.

As she closed her eyes she could feel Madsy placing her own hands over hers, so their palms were touching. She had soft hands and a gentle touch and Sian found herself getting more relaxed with every passing minute. After a few minutes of silence, where Sian could almost feel her mother holding her breath next to her, Madsy started to speak but it didn’t sound like her at all. Her voice sounded a lot deeper and with a little rasp in it.

_‘There is a man in your life’_

Her voice croaked, and Sian could hear her mother suck in a new breath quickly next to her.

_‘He has gained great power in his life, but he needed your help to do this. He hurts you sometimes, but you gave him your own heart fully. He is the one that makes you trust again.’_

Madsy took a deep breath before continuing her speech in the same raspy tone.

_‘There will be a big struggle within the family but standing by each other’s side you will overcome anything and….’_ a light in the room flickered slightly which made her mother jump and let out a whimper. Suddenly Madsy’s hands moved away from Sian’s. She cleared her throat loudly and gained back Sian’s attention to have her open her eyes slowly. Sian was shocked by the sight of Madsy. She seemed to be shivering and looked like she’d seen a ghost.

‘what’s wrong, what happened, did you see anything else?’ Sian questioned, her curiosity suddenly peaked by the event. The reading seemed to perfectly describe the scenario that Soheon was in, in her dreams. Maybe this reading told her something more about what would happen to her? Madsy shook her head violently. Her face still white as a sheet and her lips pursed into a thin line.

‘The reading is over, please leave’ she suddenly muttered her voice almost inaudible. Sian shot her mother a confused look, but she just shrugged and started to get up. As soon as they had both risen from the floor, Madsy was over at their side pushing them towards the door.

‘Thanks for stopping by’ she mumbled quickly as she pushed the both of them outside ‘…and good luck’ she directed this specifically towards Sian and then shut the door behind them quickly. ‘What was that?’ Sian muttered out to her mother, still staring at the wooden door that had been closed so quickly behind them.

‘I have no idea but that was the _weirdest_ reading I’ve ever been to, and I’ve had my fair share of them’ her mother muttered ‘What did she mean with the man in your life gaining great power?’ her mother looked at her, but Sian had been way ahead of her in that.

‘It is not about _my_ life. It was about the dreams’ she explained. Won Jeong is a prince and Soheon now his princess. They already have great power, but Sian didn’t understand what Soheon had done to give her husband any of that power.

‘Couldn’t it have been about your future?’ Her mother coined making Sian doubt her theory again until she remembered the book she had seen in the attic and then shook her head no.

‘I’m pretty sure now it’s about the dreams. One of the books in the attic mentioned a ‘Queen’ Soheon, so that means that Won Jeong would become king at some point. And he would need her help to do so. And the prince’s family in the dreams didn’t seem too pleased with the marriage so that could be the other thing’ Sian muttered now more to herself than to her mother.

They continued to work out how the reading would relate to the dreams on their way back to the village and as they returned it was crystal clear to Sian that she would have more dreams of how Soheon becomes Queen. The only thing that kept bothering her was how Madsy had clearly cut the reading short after the light had flickered and how she had behaved extremely out of the ordinary after it. Sian knew there had to be something she wasn’t telling her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahhhh I'm sorry that took so long! I really hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know what you think of the story and what your predictions are for the future!


	13. Chapter Thirteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry to leave you all waiting for so long!! I'm not sure when the next chapter will be done but it might be a while until I can update again. I'm so sorry, please know that this story isn't abandoned though!!
> 
> For now I hope you'll enjoy this chapter!  
> <3

****

 

**Joseon 1400**

Soheon awoke from the baby moving inside her and when she opened her eyes she saw the soft morning sunshine caress the walls of her bedroom. It had been 2 months since their wedding and Soheon was still living with Won Jeong, or Minseok as she would jokingly call him sometimes, in their house just outside the palace.

She had officially moved into his bedroom as she was now his wife. Soheon’s pregnancy was officially confirmed shortly after their wedding night. Thankfully this was right on time as Soheon’s bump was almost impossible to disguise any longer. Won Jeong’s mother had been suspicious about this until he confessed that they had slept together before the wedding ceremony and that it possibly happened then.

As a Princess, Soheon spent more time inside the palace’s walls, especially now that the King’s illness was getting worse and it was all hands-on-deck to make sure everything was running smoothly. Soheon and Won Jeong were responsible for the people’s grievances. Won Jeong had been before but now that they were officially married it was expected of Soheon to take part in supporting her husband in court.

Soheon had grown to hate the palace and the people inside it. The walls inside the palace were cold and lifeless much like the people working inside of it. It had seemed like Soheon was disliked a lot by the court. People would always be whispering behind her back.

Sometimes they would talk about her even when she was right there in the room. Making their voices just loud enough for her to hear their insults and gossip towards her.  _‘I can’t believe the prince married that instead of Soo Yae’_  she heard one of the officers say to one of the court ladies who glanced over at her before giggling.

Even though Soheon was now legally bound to the prince, it all still stung. Soo Yae was the eldest daughter of Won Jeong’s mother’s fourth cousin and she was incredibly beautiful. All Soheon wanted was to be a part of this family like she intended and to share with them their love. Yet it seemed like everyone that was supposed to be part of her family now didn’t want her to be a part of it.

Even though inside the palace walls she may have been an outcast, she was a favourite among the commoners. Which had been the thing that gave her the strength to carry on working together with Won Jeong. Some people would even bring her gifts asking about the baby before addressing their own issues. They would wish her a happy and healthy pregnancy and hoped for a beautiful heir.

As days went by the whispers in the palace got more severe, not only were people disregarding the fact that they were talking so loudly that Soheon could clearly hear them, they even had the audacity to look at her from time to time while talking about her. Soheon tried so hard to pay them no mind and continue her work and life, yet they tapped into some primal form of separation anxiety that she couldn’t help but wonder if they were right.

Rumours went around the palace that the prince had married her out of pity but was secretly having an affair with Soo Yae. Those were the ones that had hurt Soheon the most as the beauty of Soo Yae was undeniable and Won Jeong had always been friendly with her, even if he had rejected her has his wife because he already loved Soheon.

Despite the whispers in the hallways the princess held her head high as she walked into the throne room that day. The sight she was greeted with was the exact one that had been haunting the dark parts of her brain. Soo Yae stood next to her prince, talking to him, laughing with him. For a second Soheon stood frozen in her spot until she realised her actions had caused the room to turn their attention towards her.

She bowed politely to the people in the room before moving to her position next to the throne. She didn’t look at him as he was still at the bottom of the steps talking to Soo Yae but even without looking she could picture how his eyes would turn to crescents as he laughed at one of her jokes, how his lips curled back so much it showed a bit of his gums and how Soo Yae would never understand what the beauty of that smile meant to Soheon.  

When the prince returned to his place next to her he greeted her with one of those smiles before bowing politely. Soheon merely bowed back trying her very best not to let the events that just happened get to her head too much. Why would he be talking to her, other than being a former potential marriage partner they had very little in common. Soheon really disliked the idea of Soo Yae and the prince together, even as friends, as she was certain there was more to the absolutely gorgeous cousin.

The prince grabbed the hand that was resting on the side of her seat and gave it a reassuring squeeze. This time Soheon allowed herself to look at her husband. In all the time they had been officially engaged she hadn’t loved him as much as she did now. It’s like his place in her heart keeps growing with every day. Sure, Soo Yae was beautiful and desired by most men but in the end the prince had chosen her without her even loving him at the time.

‘She’s very beautiful’ Soheon commented her gaze aimed at the pretty cousin and she could hear her husband chuckle beside her. Her glance shot back to him. ‘Am I wrong?’ she questioned and the smile on the prince’s face disappeared, making room for concern on his face. ‘She may be beautiful, but she isn’t you. No need to be jealous’ his smile returned to his face but Soheon just scoffed. How could he possibly know she was jealous?

‘I’m not jealous’ she stated but it was clear that the prince wasn’t buying into her lie.

‘I know you Soo, I can almost see the green in your eyes. My mother wanted me to marry her, it was not my choice. For me it has always been you. Even though I wasn’t always it for you.’ The last bit was said with just a hint of sadness and Soheon immediately felt guilty about her jealousy towards Soo Yae.

‘I’m sorry. You’re right. I shouldn’t be jealous, you married me after all’ she tried her best to smile and reassure her prince but he could see right through her façade. He lifted the hand he was still holding to his face and placed his lips softly on the delicate skin.

‘I love you so much and my unborn child as well. Please always believe that’ the prince whispered to her before turning his attention towards the people waiting. It promised to be a long day for the prince and Soheon as there seemed to be a lot of people waiting outside the palace doors. Soheon placed her free hand over her own stomach now clearly feeling the bump that her pregnancy left.

‘He loves us’ she whispered to the child not loud enough for anyone to hear and for the first time since her pregnancy she could feel the little creature inside her move. It startled her enough to sit up straight and let go of the prince’s hand to place it next to the other on her stomach. The prince glanced over with a worried look in his eyes.

Without mentioning anything Soheon grabbed his hand and placed it over her stomach. The people in the room might have found it a weird sight but Soheon couldn’t care much now. The prince’s look grew from confused to excited when the baby started moving again and he gave her a blinding smile before moving back to address the person in front of him in a much lighter fashion.

It seemed the people in the villages had heard about the illness of the king and were now all coming to the palace to speak up about their concern for the crown prince. The people though he wouldn’t be a good fit to be king and that his past recklessness could ruin the country. They all indicated that they’d rather see Won Jeong as their new king even if that method was unconventional. Soheon could see that all this troubled her husband greatly as he was very close with his brother and people kept telling him that they didn’t believe in Yi Je. Wherever she could, she would support her husband in reassuring the people that Yi Je was not the man he used to be and that he was now fit to be a king, but it didn’t seem to calm any of the citizens.

\-----

After every court gathering there would be a small banquet for the staff at the palace. Soheon had ordered for the people who visited the palace and shared their grievances to also receive some food and drink before they had to venture back to wherever they came from. This was another thing that wasn’t met with much joy in court but luckily for her, her husband agreed with the measures and thus it was implemented immediately.

Won Jeong even managed to make it all happen in the same room. Royals and commoners eating the same food at the same time. The look on his mother’s face when it all happened had been priceless. She was furious because she firmly believed that royals were of a higher stature than others so she treated anyone who was below her as if they were nothing. Ever since their wedding day Won Jeong’s mother had been out to drive Won Jeong and Soheon apart.

She tried planting seeds of doubt into each of their brains to get them to slowly grow distrusting of each other but Won Jeong saw straight through it and kept reassuring his princess that she was the only one in his heart. Because as much as Soheon didn’t want to be affected by anything the Queen had said, she couldn’t help but feel like she didn’t really belong at the prince’s side.

Soheon was hanging off her husband’s arm, clearly indicating to Soo Yae, and everyone else, that she was the one whom Won Jeong married. Soo Yae congratulated her with her pregnancy though the words seemed to be dripping in sarcasm.

‘Congratulations. You two must be over the moon.’ She cooed her voice disgustingly sweet and highly insincere ‘So quick as well! I really hope it will be a boy’ With every new comment she would place her slender hand softly on the prince’s arm while slowly moving up. Soheon would’ve loved to rip her arm off for touching her husband at all, but she knew she couldn’t get away with that type of behaviour, so she kept it all in. well, most of it.

She hadn’t experienced this creeping jealousy before but around Soo Yae she suddenly felt very possessive over her husband. ‘Actually, we don’t really mind if it’s a boy or a girl as long as it’s healthy, Right Minseok?’ Soheon called him by his other name to indicate the level of intimacy in their relationship to Soo Yae, to show that, as his wife, she was the only one allowed to call him that. Yet the prince’s glance shot towards hers as his eyes grew wide.

Soheon knew that the prince didn’t like the name to be used outside the comfort of their home as it might create a huge scandal when more people found out about the prince’s past behaviour, but desperate times call for desperate measures and Soheon was desperate to keep Soo Yae as far away from her husband as possible.

All of a sudden, the room got a rowdy as two of the King’s special guards came bursting into the room. They called out Won Jeong and Soheon’s names and the two were ordered to follow them. Soheon quickly caught on what was going on but Won Jeong didn’t seem to realise just yet so the princess held on to his hand tightly as they followed the guards to the other side of the castle quickly.

As they entered the King’s room they were greeted with a lot of staff looking sombre, which proved what Soheon already suspected. The king had died. He had finally succumbed to his illnesses and was now resting peacefully. Won Jeong only now seemed to realise what had happened and let himself fall to the ground. As much as they disagreed and argued about who would be most suitable for the throne, Won Jeong did love and respect his father very much.

Though he was a strict ruler and taught his kids to be similar, he still showed them he loved them in his own little ways. Like how he had given Won Jeong the house just outside the palace only after the whole kitchen had been renovated so the prince could continue his hobby of preparing food and how the king had hired the best chef in the country for Won Jeong, not just to prepare his dinner but also to teach him the ways around the kitchen and how to prepare different dishes.

Soheon held her husband’s shoulder as he was still kneeling on the ground the tears now streaming down his face silently. Soheon knew he was holding back for his mother’s sake. Hiding his face from her to not show his weakness. One of the officials looked around the room to verify the presence of all family members before starting to speak.

‘Family. I am about to read the last will and testament of the late king Taejong, listen carefully as you are obliged by law to grant these wishes as best as possible.’ Soheon gave a little squeeze, letting her husband know she was right there with him and that she would now be the one to support him as much as he had supported her before.

‘We will start with the one furthest from the King in terms of relation and move upwards from there’ the official claimed. His voice stable and void of emotions. Soheon was surprised as the man had been working for the king almost his entire life and now he was here just reading this testament without any emotion to colour his voice. Or maybe that was his way of grieving the late king. The man turned and looked straight at Soheon. She gave him a small curtsey before he continued to speak.

‘Soheon, Wife of Won Jeong, Princess of King Taejeong. The King’s last wish for you is that he hopes you keep your kindness regardless of the harshness of this world, he also hopes that you stay curious and keep asking the questions that matter. It is therefore that he has appointed you head of the brand-new palace school and hopes you blossom even more as you teach all the village children, as well as your own in the future, the ways of the world.’

The way the officer had spoken those words was plain and void of all emotion. Yet Soheon felt her own tears sting. She hadn’t had many interactions with the late king as he was almost unreachable to her, but the one time she had joined Yi Je to visit him had clearly left an impression on the king.

She had told him then how much she enjoyed telling stories to the village kids and to show them how to do certain things like creating their own slingshots or games. She had wondered why there was no school within the walls of the palace as all village children there were just doomed to follow in their parents’ footsteps. She didn’t notice how the tears started rolling down her cheeks until her husband wiped them away with his thumb. It seemed that seeing his wife cry was enough encouragement for him to get enough of a grip to get up.

She knew he was faking it. She knew he wasn’t okay but was pretending to be for her sake and her heart grew. In a weak attempt to reciprocate the feelings she grabbed his hand and squeezed it slightly. Reminding herself to thank him properly for it when this was all over.

The list went on and on. From what Yi Je and Won Jeong’s mother would get until what the King’s latest mistress was left with. Won Jeong once told her that he didn’t understand the need for a king to have multiple wives or mistresses. Yet his father changed women often. Sometimes they would bare his children and other times they would just be there for the king’s pleasure.

Finally, the list came to the two eldest boys in the family. Yi Je and Won Jeong got addressed at the same time. The King wished for them to figure out amongst themselves who would be best for the throne. That he would be proud of both of them regardless of their choice and how the most important thing for them was to remain brothers.

It was such a heartfelt and emotional message to his heirs that Soheon wondered if the document really was written by the King himself. After the announcements Yi Je stepped forward to the crowd and claimed his rightful position to the throne.

‘I don’t know if I will do well, but I will try with everything I’ve got to be the best King Joseon could have.’ He announced and Soheon saw the Queen roll her eyes before joining in the ‘Long live the king’ chant that was customary. The king then turned towards Won Jeong and her.

‘I love my brother and I wouldn’t want to lose him, so I hereby appoint him head of the army, may he protect our realm with the kindness I know his heart possesses.’ Won Jeong smiled proudly at his brother and kneeled before him to officially receive his position as head of the army. Soheon wasn’t too happy with her husband in that position as it would mean he would be away from home often. Yet, it was better than the alternative of being killed by your own brother.

It is a tradition in the line of succession to the throne to get rid of any possible threat to the position of the throne. This meant that when a boy’s father died, and the boy was appointed king, he would have to kill all his brothers and cousins who might be able to lay claim of the throne in the future. The only way to avoid this death-sentence was for the brothers and cousins to be appointed positions around the palace by the new king himself, but even then, you were never completely safe. If the king saw you as a threat, it would mean your days were numbered no matter what position you held.

‘However,’ the new King continued and all the heads that were previously bowing before their new king shot up in surprise.

‘Since you’ll be gone a lot once you take position, and your lovely wife is still pregnant. I’m postponing your positioning until after she has given birth to your child.’ Yi Je smiled at the both of them and Soheon could practically kiss him right now.

‘I’m gifting you a honeymoon you never got. There is a house we own up in the mountains and you’re free to stay there together as long as you’d like, take whomever you need as your staff and I wish you all the best and a safe return for the three of you’.

Won Jeong bowed deeply to his brother and Soheon followed his example. ‘Thank you, your highness’ he said never lifting his face from the floor. Again, Soheon followed his example in thanking the King.

‘Now go pack your things, because you will be leaving tonight’ the King exclaimed enthusiastically pointing to two members of staff to go with them and help.

‘HUH?!? Tonight?!?’ they both exclaimed. But the King was only grinning as the both of them were escorted back to their homes

\-------

When they arrived in the mountains the weather had cleared. Where there had been threatening grey clouds this morning, empty blue skies stretched as far as the eye could see. They had taken three members of staff and Yixing to their destination and as soon as they arrived the staff had started to carry their stuff inside.

The house was a lot smaller than their own house near the palace, but it was still large enough to house a large family. The place had a friendly and homey feel to it. Something Soheon wasn’t used to experiencing. For once Soheon was also glad that the staff around them was too busy packing their stuff into the house, so she could focus back on her husband whom had just lost his father. He had been cold towards her the whole journey there. He had not replied to any of Soheon’s activity suggestions and even looked away from her while she was mid-sentence.

‘Mins-’ she started but got cut off mid-word

‘Stop calling me that. You know I’m past that’ he snapped and Soheon gasped slightly before taking a step away from him. She didn’t understand why he was suddenly getting angry at her calling him Minseok. She had done it so many times before and he had always smiled at her when she said it. It was the smile she loved so much where his eyes turned into little crescents and his lips were slightly askew. That’s why she kept using the name, because of that smile. Yet now it was like she had called him the devil himself.

‘I’m sorry’ She uttered still dumbfounded by his reaction, but she didn’t want to make a big deal out of it as he had just lost his father a few hours ago. She wanted to be there to support him now, just like he had been there for her.

‘Let’s go inside. I’ll make you something nice’ she assured him as she placed her hand on his shoulder softly. Yet, he coldly brushed off her hand and moved inside without her not saying a word in reply. Soheon sighed heavily. She had no idea how to get through to her husband in this moment. She was absolutely blank on how she could help him. When she turned around she saw Yixing who had apparently been watching them. Another sigh left her body as she moved towards her best friend.

‘I’m guessing you heard and saw all of that’ she announced avoiding his gaze as she picked up one of the remaining bags up from the carriage. Yixing just hummed his confirming answer, a clear sign that Soheon didn’t have to talk about it if she didn’t want to, yet to also let her know that he was there for her when she was ready.

Just before the entrance of the little cottage Soheon stopped in her tracks and sat down on the bench under the window. She gestured for Yixing to come and sit next to her which he did obediently. Soheon rolled her eyes at his actions as if he was just there as an employee and not also her best friend.

‘I don’t know what to do Yixing’ she sighed ‘it seems like Won Jeong lost all interest in me in the short span of a day’ she continued without meeting his gaze. She knew that if she would look at him she wouldn’t be able to say what she needed to say. Yixing merely hummed in confirmation. It had caught his eye as well.

‘I have no right to tell you this, and if anyone finds out I did it will cost me my head, but I feel you deserve to know’ Yixing’s face had grown serious and Soheon could feel her heartbeat speed up.

‘I overheard the queen talking to a woman in the hallways on my way to your carriage, she told her she would do everything in her power to drive Won Jeong away from you. She wants him to start to dislike you, so he can fall for that woman and marry her’ Yixing was whispering by now as it was crystal clear why this information could cost him everything.

‘Soo Yae’ Soheon whispered her mouth wide in shock. So, her gut had been right about it all along. She really was trying to steal him away from her.

‘What about her’ a different voice came from beside them and Soheon could feel Yixing stiffen next to her. He kept absolutely still as the footsteps got louder.

‘I said, what about her’ there was a clear anger in his voice and Soheon, for the first time since their marriage, felt scared of him. His anger was another clear indication for Soheon that there was more to Soo Yae and Won Jeong than people lead her to believe. Of course, Won Jeong’s mother was feeding into this. She loved driving them apart.

‘She looked exceptionally pretty today don’t you think?’ Soheon bravely answered secretly wondering if she had made a huge mistake by replying this way as the jealousy she had only felt before was now clearly audible in her voice.

‘Soheon’ Won Jeong started the anger faded from his voice, replaced by regret.

‘It’s okay Won, I know she’s pretty. She’s the prettiest woman in the whole palace, everyone knows that.’ Soheon reprimanded trying not refrain from feeding into the guilt she felt. Hoping the appearance of her jealousy wouldn’t cause too much damage to their current relationship.

‘She is on her way here, Soheon’ Won Jeong muttered

Both Soheon and Yixing gasped audibly at the news.

‘WHAT? Why?’ Soheon muttered feeling the panic slowly taking over her brain. He was already replacing her, even without showing her jealousy towards them before Won Jeong was already working on replacing her. What about her baby, what was he supposed to do without a father, even if that man wasn’t his actual father, he or she needed a fatherly figure in their life.

‘She is coming here to support me so don’t you worry about her’ Won Jeong mentioned his voice flat and emotionless as he turned around to re-enter the house. Leaving Soheon and Yixing in awe of the news.


	14. Chapter Fourteen

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I AM SO SORRY IT TOOK ME SO LONG <3 please don't hate me...

_A/N These are the outfits that will be mentioned later in the chapter..._  

**South Korea 2018**

Sian groaned as she put her bag in the corner of the hallway. She had to admit that it was good to be back in her own house. As much as she loved her mother, she always felt uncomfortable outside her own home, like the anxiety she had was more likely to grab her once she was outside.

After placing her father’s favourite novel, that she had taken from her mother's home, carefully on her side table, she made her way to the kitchen to get herself a well-earned cup of tea when she saw the light of her voicemail flicker from the corner of her eye.

She walked to the machine and pressed the button to play all missed messages. She was greeted with the familiar female voice. _‘You have three new messages. First message received this morning at 8:25 am’_ the machine clicked as it played the new message. The voice of her best friend filled her kitchen.

_‘Sian, it’s Baekhyun. I hope you’re okay. I haven’t heard from you since our wedding day. I’m just calling to let you know that we returned from our honeymoon, like a few days already, and are doing well. Just. You know. Let me know you’re still alive and all. Love you, byeee’_

Sian smiled as she realised how much she had missed her best friend. He didn’t know what had happened between her and Minseok and Eunhyuk. She made a mental note to call him back and tell him everything after this. The next message was from her mother right after Sian had left that morning and Sian had expected it. Her mother always worried about her whenever she wasn’t home, and even when she was. Sian shot a quick text to her mother from her mobile. Telling her she arrived home safely and is eating well.

_‘Last message received yesterday 4:05 PM’_

Another familiar voice filled her house as Sian stood frozen in her spot in the kitchen. Her tea long forgotten.

_‘Sian. I’m sorry I walked out like that. You… You deserved to explain yourself. So, I’ve decided we… I don’t want to do this over the phone. I’m coming over again…’_

Her voicemail machine clicked again indicating the end of the messages. Sian still stood there startled and holding on to the kitchen counter with all the strength she had left.

**_‘again’_ **

That meant he had already been here before. Her heartbeat had increased by tenfold and she finally released a breath she didn’t know she was holding. He had called her. She was so sure he never wanted to see her again after the stunt she pulled and there he was calling her. Visiting her house even.

She dialled the number of the first person she thought of speaking to in this situation.

 _‘_ Baekhyun? It’s Sian.’

A loud squeal could be heard from the other side of the line as well as an angry Kyungsoo who told Baekhyun to calm it down as he couldn’t understand a word from his favourite TV show.

‘Sian, you’re alive! We thought you might have died. Or be occupied by a certain someone from a big company you know’ his tone was joking and suggestive. Sian couldn’t kill his light-hearted spirit, so she decided to start of light.

‘Yeah I’m alive. I just spend a few days at my mother’s.’ Sian tried to keep her voice as light as her best friend’s, but it wasn’t fooling Baekhyun.

‘What’s wrong Sian, you sound sombre’ That made Sian chuckle at her friend. He never used words like ‘sombre’. Sian knew that that was a 100% Kyungsoo’s influence on him.

‘A lot has happened’ Sian finally admitted with a sigh. The silence on the other end of the line was a clear indication for Sian to start explaining the situation. 

‘So, I sort of ditched Minseok as a date for your wedding because he killed someone in my dreams. And I didn’t expect him to show up to your wedding anyways, apparently, he knows Kyungsoo from when they were younger, so remind me later to strangle him, and he saw me kiss Eunhyuk because of that was his stupid demand for the stupid date and he got angry and walked out on me. Then Eunhyuk brought me home after your wedding and tried to kiss me again.’ She took a deep breath before she continued

‘And I panicked and pushed him away and then I went to my mother for a few days where I finally told her about the dreams and she found some weird shit in the attic that shows all these pictures of women from different eras but they all look like me. It freaked me the hell out. She told me she had heard some weird ass legend and then she dragged me to this shaman, you know how she gets about legends and such, and there the woman talked about those dreams and what happened in them without me telling her that I even had them.’

Sian was panting by the end of her story and the other line was still silent. She was about to call out his name when the reply came.

‘YOU LET EUNHYUK KISS YOU IN FRONT OF MINSEOK’ Baekhyun exclaimed in shock. Sian rolled her eyes, perfectly aware of the fact that her best friend wouldn’t see.

‘That’s all you took from that? Really?’ she concluded with a sigh. ‘Nothing about my dreams having a possibility of being truthful. Nothing about there being dozens of pictures of women that look exactly like me?’

‘I’m sorry’ Baekhyun replied apologetically. ‘You’re right, that’s far more important. But frankly I’m more curious about the whole Minseok situation, so could you maybe, perhaps start with that’ the tone of his voice was pleading, and Sian knew Baekhyun had found her weakness.

‘Fine. I will tell you. But you must promise not to judge me too harshly’ she pleaded back. She knew very well that Baekhyun would never treat her any differently. He knew her through and through and he had proven to be a good friend over time.

‘Scouts honour’ Baekhyun answered ‘Just so you know, I’m doing the salute with it too’ this made Sian giggle. She really had missed the silliness of her friend. Sian continued to tell Baekhyun everything that had happened at their wedding and she even informed him of his latest voicemail to her where he had said he would come over, but that she had been away.

‘Oh, that explains’ Baekhyun hummed mysteriously

‘Explains what?’ Sian demanded

‘Why he has been coming by the coffeeshop so often. Not ordering anything. Just you know. Sitting there’ Baekhyun explained the surprise still lingering in his voice.

Sian was about to reply to the strange occurrence when there was a knock on her door.

‘Baek, I need to call you back. There’s someone at my door’ Sian explained not really paying attention to Baekhyun’s reply as she hung up and made her way towards her door carefully. She had to admit that the few days she had spent at her mothers had made her slightly paranoid. She placed the phone on the counter as she grabbed a kitchen knife once she put the device down.

She held the knife at a slight angle above her shoulder as she grabbed the doorknob with her other hand and opened her front door carefully.

‘Holy shit, you’re holding a knife’ was the response of the man standing in front of her door. The basket and flowers he had been holding were dropped on the floor as he raised his hands in surrender.

‘Minseok?’

‘What are you doing here?’ Sian couldn’t believe her eyes and she willed her heart to calm down as it made little summersaults at the sight of the man whose heart she broke.

‘I... I’m just here to… could you please lower the knife, it’s making me quite anxious. I’m not here to hurt you’ he requested and suddenly Sian seemed to return to her own body and realise the position she found herself in.

‘Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I’ve been with my mother for a few days and that always leaves me a little paranoid. Please, do come in. Again, I’m so incredibly sorry. Not just for the knife...’ a slightly awkward silence filled the room as Minseok merely hummed in response and made his way inside after picking the basket and flowers up off the floor. Sian quickly disposed of the kitchen knife and went about getting the both of them a drink.

Sian searched one of her cupboards for something that had been left untouched for years but seemed appropriate for this particular moment. After a few seconds she spotted the familiar bottle. It was a bottle of whisky that her father had left her when he died. She hadn’t had the courage to drink from it before, but this seemed a weird enough moment to do so. She poured them both a decent glass before making her way to the living room where Minseok had settled himself on her couch.

It was probably strange that in that very moment the only thing she could think about was kissing him and telling him how incredibly stupid she had been and how sorry she was and how he never deserved any of it. She contained herself as she offered him the glass. He raised one eyebrow at her in question.

‘I figured this situation called for something strong’ she merely commented and sat herself down on the other end of the couch facing Minseok. She was about to utter a full formal apology when he raised a finger to silence her.

‘I know what you’re going to say. Eunhyuk told me everything after I practically tortured it out of him’ Minseok commented and Sian’s eyes grew wide with shock.

‘You tortured him?’ She asked her voice shooting up in pitch. She had never thought of him as a violent man but thinking of what Won Jeong had been capable of in her dreams it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to her.

‘Not actual torture. I just made him tell me things with every game of poker he lost’ Minseok smiled mischievously and Sian couldn’t stop herself from smiling along. She knew very well how bad her ex-boyfriend was at poker.

She carefully sipped on her drink and let the amber coloured liquid embrace all corners of her mouth. She had never been a real fan of whisky and her face turned sour as she swallowed the liquid feeling the burn along her oesophagus. When she looked up Minseok was watching her intently. The sight startled her, and she quickly took another sip of the drink she didn’t really like, a little liquid courage. 

‘Listen, Minseok’ Sian started staring at the glass in her hands instead of him. She couldn’t bear looking him in the eye saying what she was about to say.

‘I am really truly sorry about the whole ordeal at Baekhyun’s wedding. I never meant for you to find out and get hurt. It’s really rather complicated to explain why I cancelled our date for that day.’ She took a deep breath while swirling the drink around in her glass. She was about to continue when she felt a hand on her knee. Minseok had moved next to her and with his hand on her knee the words she wanted to say died on her lips.

‘You didn’t want me to find out? So, you were aware of what exactly you were doing in that moment?’ he asked the hurt slightly audible in his voice and the hand on her knee tightened a little before disappearing completely from it and Sian immediately missed the contact.

‘I… no…. You know what I mean. I didn’t want to hurt you. But ahg!’ Sian stood up in frustration and started pacing around her own living room. She was incredibly aware of Minseok’s eyes on her every move. He might have thought she would make a bee line for the kitchen to get that knife back. The tension was insanely high and with every step Sian took she was debating if she should tell him the truth or come up with another lie.

She suddenly stopped and turned to face Minseok, making sure not to meet his gaze just yet.

‘I do really want to tell you why I cancelled that date, but I feel like I need to get to know you a bit more before I can actually tell you exactly why.’ She sat herself back down on the couch next to Minseok again. Finally, she seemed to have found the courage to look him in the eye.

‘So, if you would grant me one more chance to prove myself and make up for the hurt I’ve caused you…’

This time it was him who looked away, pursing his lips in thought his eyes flicking across the room but not on Sian anymore. Not until he heaved a deep breath and finally looked at her.

‘Okay, I will give you one more chance to prove yourself’ Sian couldn’t contain the smile from spreading across her face.

‘On one condition’ her face fell as quickly as it had risen, and panic threatened to take over. What could he possibly want from her in return? She gave a small nod urging him to speak his mind about the condition she was facing.

‘Come on this trip with me’

Now it was his turn to get up and pace around nervously. He scratched the back of his head nervously as if he wanted to take back what he had just sad. If anything, it made Sian more nervous about the whole question. Was it even a question? Or a demand?

‘W-What?’ She finally managed to stammer, and it made Minseok stop dead in his tracks and look at her with panic in his eyes. He rushed back to her side on the couch and sat next to her placing her hands carefully into his.

‘I know this is weird timing, but I really feel like we need to talk about all this’ he moved his one free hand in between the both of them. ‘And I have to go to Los Angeles for a business trip. The possibility of solving this made me think I should cancel, but I can’t because if I don’t go my parents will throw me out of the company and…’ he heaved a big sigh.

‘but that’s not important. Just come on this trip with me. Maybe the change of scenery and the lack of others meddling will help us figure this out’. His tone was pleading and a little voice in her head was screaming for her to say yes and jump into his arms at how romantic this would be, but the rational side of her, who luckily had the upper hand this time was a little sceptical. 

‘Okay’ She finally whispered and the smile that spread across Minseok’s face melted away all the worries that were cooking in her head before. If she could look at that smile up close for a few days, it would all have been worth it.

\-----------

A few hours later and they were on their way to the airport. Minseok had been helping Sian pack her things as she still had no idea how long they were going to be away for. Then she changed into something comfortable, as the flight would be quite long, and they were off.

During the taxi drive to the airport Minseok had barely said a word and Sian could feel the tension between them rise with every second. She glanced over at her traveling partner and saw the muscles in his jaw clench in tension. She reached out and grabbed his hand in hers intertwining their fingers. She could feel his stare moving towards her, but she looked straight ahead, as if grabbing his hand like that was just a normal thing and not something that made her heart want to jump out of her chest.

After a while she felt Minseok relax beside her and decided it was time to start to get to know each other really well. She turned to him still holding tightly on to his hand.

‘What’s your favourite food?’ She asked. The tone of her voice was light, carefree and stable very unlike how she felt but she thought the distraction might help her relax more. After a surprising look and a light chuckle, he finally answered.

‘Soondae’ was his simple reply. Sian knew the dish well. Her father used to love it as well. She never had a liking for the rice and blood concoction especially after she learned that the little strips of skin on the outside were made of intestine. She pulled a sour face at his answer which earned another chuckle from the male.

‘What’s yours then?’ he asked as if slightly offended.

‘Tteokbokki, duh don’t you remember our first date?’ She smiled, and she saw the panic flicker behind his hazel brown eyes and quickly added ‘Don’t worry, it’s okay to not remember, it’s been a while and a lot has happened’ and as she softly squeezed his hand in reassurance she felt him relax again.

The rest of the journey to the airport they asked each other about their favourites. From colours to songs to pets. The atmosphere had gotten a lot more relaxed than it had been when they left the house and Sian could finally let go of the idea of this trip being a mistake.

It was strange for Sian to step into the airplane. She had always been afraid of flying which is why she would always take the drive up to her mother’s instead of catching a flight. She took a deep breath before stepping inside the metal vehicle. She was determined to not let Minseok know about her fear of flying. They were finally starting to warm up to each other and she didn’t want him to worry unnecessarily about her for the whole 13 hours.

Yet he was there when she stepped over the threshold grabbing her hand softly before they headed to their seats. They were seated in first class and Sian had never realised how spacious and luxurious a seat on a plane could be. Once they sat down the stewardess came over to bring them a glass of champagne. Sian was about to decline when Minseok accepted the drink for her.

‘Drink up, it’ll take the edge off a little’ he commanded and suddenly Sian recognised the Prince of her dreams in Minseok. It was the first time they had been so scarily similar, so Sian did as she was told and downed the drink in one go. She could almost feel the alcohol go straight to her head which relaxed her a little to her surprise.

She gave Minseok a reassuring smile before exploring her entertainment system. Minseok showed her how she could put her chair back in a way that made it possible for her to lie down completely. He told her it was recommended to get a little sleep as they would losing 16 hours more than their actual travelling time.

Sian nodded diligently at everything he said but knew that she wouldn’t get a wink sleep as the whole idea of being several kilometres up in the air in a metal frame terrified her. She watched carefully as the stewards explained the safety procedures looking closely where her life vest was positioned and where the nearest exit was. After the pilot welcomed them on their flight their drove off to airstrip for take-off. 

Sian held on to both her armrests tightly as she felt the engine turn up. She pushed her back into the chair and closed her eyes. As the plane started moving faster and faster she tried to focus on her breathing which became shallower as the plane sped up. She felt another hand hold on to hers, but she didn’t dare to open her eyes just yet. Her heart jumped in her chest as she felt the plane come off the ground. Her breathing was quick and shallow at this point and she could feel her heart beat rise as the panic took over her brain. It wasn’t until a deep voice next to her spoke to her demandingly that she opened her eyes.

‘Look at me!’ the voice bellowed, and Sian’s eyes shot open and stared right into the familiar hazel brown ones of her travelling partner. His hands were placed on either side of her face which forced her to look at him. ‘Breathe with me. In’ he took a deep breath, waiting for Sian to take hers. ‘and out’ he said as he released his breath. Sian followed his lead until she could breathe in again deeply.

Now that she was able to breathe properly again without hyperventilating was the exact moment the embarrassment of the whole situation hit her like a train.

‘I’m sorry’ she mumbled trying her best to keep her gaze away from Minseok as she was afraid her heart would start panicking at the sight of him again. He wiped the wet stains of her cheeks with his thumb and just hummed dismissingly.

‘You didn’t tell me you were afraid of flying’ he commented almost absentmindedly while still letting his eyes go over every inch of Sian’s face just to make sure she was really alright.

‘It never came up’ Sian replied dryly, which was true. They hadn’t spoken of their fears yet and frankly it was something Sian was trying to avoid as well, she wanted to keep things light and easy for now. 

‘You silly woman. That’s definitely a thing that doesn’t need to come up in conversation to be mentioned’ Sian was hyper aware of the fact that he was still holding her face into his hands and now that her breathing had fully eased she dared to look back at him. He simply smiled as he let go of her face. He turned back into his seat turning the film he was watching back on.

Sian shifted in her seat slightly and looked around to see if anyone else had caught her embarrassing action. Yet all other passengers seemed to only be interested in their own entertainment devices. She heaved a sigh of relief. Yet she couldn’t ease down completely as she was still hyper aware of the fact that she was in a metal box, miles from the ground.

When she reached out to her own entertainment screen she noticed that her hand was still shaking. She quickly retracted it and got up from her seat. Immediately a pair of eyes shot her way and she tried to calm him down with a reassuring smile pointing towards the restroom before making her way there.

Once she was in the safety of the small compartment she looked at herself in the mirror. No wonder Minseok had looked so shocked, she looked as if she had seen a ghost. She took a few deep breaths and willed her body to calm down. More than anything she felt embarrassment because her body was reacting so violently to such a simple thing as flying.

She finally returned to her seat and threw Minseok an apologetic smile. He held out his hand for her to take and she gladly took it, holding onto it for stability and sanity. After a while Minseok moved his body closer to hers and whispered into her ear, as to not wake any of the sleeping passengers.

‘Here’ he handed her a small orange tablet. Sian look at him in confusion.

‘Kim Minseok are you trying to drug me?’ she asked in a jokingly dramatic tone but still whispering. Minseok caught on quick and chuckled along. ‘It’s diazepam, it’ll help calm your nerves and help you sleep. I’m not drugging you. I’m giving you the option of drugging yourself to get through this flight comfortably’ she explained the affection warming his voice.

‘I am comfortable’ Sian lied quickly, even if she did slip at the start she wasn’t ready to lose face just yet. However, Minseok wasn’t fooled by her and quickly shot her a look that told her he wasn’t buying any of it. She pouted in defeat and placed the tablet on her tongue quickly swallowing it with some of the water.

When she was done Minseok motioned for her to lay her head on his lap. In the short time she had been away to the restroom he had arranged for the middle parting to be taken out and had gotten extra pillows and blankets. She quietly complied and put her head on the pillow he had placed in his lap.

Minseok had put on a romantic comedy and handed her one of the earbuds to place it in the ear not touching the pillow. He put the other one in his own ear and thus they were watching the same film together.

Sian noticed immediately when the drugs started to take their effect, as her heartbeat had slowed to a steady rhythm and hear breathing had finally normalised completely. It seemed that Minseok had noticed her relaxing as well as he started to play with her hair absentmindedly. And with his fingers softly caressing her skull Sian felt herself drift off calmly.

\----------------

‘Are you feeling any better?’ Minseok’s voice came from the other side of the wooden door. They had just arrived at their hotel and Sian’s flight panic had finally caught up with her as the medicine had worn off, so she had been emptying the contents of her stomach into the porcelain toilet bowl of their hotel suite for the past ten minutes. Sian could merely grunt in reply followed by another wave of nausea hitting her. She had locked the bathroom door as she didn’t want Minseok to see her in this disgustingly fragile state.

‘I’ll take your grunt as a no then. I’ll just see if I can get anyone to get you some medicine’ Sian could hear the worry in his voice and felt a little sorry for not giving him a proper reply. He had been nothing but sweet and caring towards her from the moment they had stepped on that plane. At the thought of the experience her stomach churned again, and she heaved over the bowl once more.

After a few minutes of blankly staring at the bathroom tiles her stomach seemed to have settled enough for her to get up and Sian finally felt like she could leave the bathroom. She opened the door to find Minseok pacing around the room. At the sound of the door he looked up immediately. The worry was clearly painted on his face and he rushed to her side.

‘Are you feeling any better? I had the maid fetch you some medicine to settle your stomach and I ordered room service in case you do want to eat something, and I had them get you a hot water bottle and…’ Sian interrupted him by placing a finger on his lips gently.

‘Thank you. I really just want to sleep though’ she explained a little flash of guilt crossing her face, and he gave a short nod and gentle smile in reply. He helped her to the bed and got her pyjamas for her as she was still a little faint. He turned around when she changed which made Sian chuckle a little.

‘You’ve already seen me naked, you idiot, why are you turning around’ she joked her voice soft and fragile. ‘I’m just trying not to be an asshole, okay?’ Minseok replied in defence his voice as fragile as Sian felt. Sian just chuckled and gave the signal of her being done. Once he had tucked Sian in Minseok was about to make his way towards the other room where he had made up a spare bed, to give Sian the room she needed. Yet, Sian grabbed his wrist and pulled him back.

‘Please, don’t go’ she creaked her voice still faint and it seemed like she was shivering. So Minseok opened the covers and got in next to her. The second he had settled down Sian had crawled towards him and intertwined their limbs together, her head resting on his torso. He started stroking her back softly, whispering sweet nothings until she fell asleep in his arms.

She awoke a few hours later with Minseok’s arms wrapped around her waist tightly. For a moment she felt safe and cared for and the realisation of how much she had hurt him hit her like a truck. How could she have been so fucking selfish that she hadn’t seen how much he really care about her. She carefully turned around to face him, making sure she didn’t wake the raven-haired man in the process. And there she just laid watching him and feeling herself fall for him with every second passing.

The plane hadn’t been the only time he saved her, he also saved her from Eunhyuk that night he wanted to attack her. Why was she so afraid of opening up to him when he had given nearly everything to her? She tried to remember what his look-a-like had been like in her dreams and started comparing them in her head. She soon concluded that apart from their looks both men weren’t very alike, so she shouldn’t judge him for whatever the man in her dreams had done or will do.

‘I’m sorry, I let my stupid dreams get to me’ she mumbled softly knowing that the words couldn’t possibly represent the remorse she was actually feeling. Minseok began to stir in his sleep and for a second Sian held her breath hoping she didn’t wake him up with her stupid mumbling.

‘You’re forgiven’ his deep voice suddenly filled the hotel room and Sian buried her face in his chest out of embarrassment. ‘I can’t believe you heard that’ she whispered against his chest and felt it move from chuckling in reply. ‘I can’t believe you just admitted to dreaming about me while we’re just lying in the same bed’ He eventually mumbled jokingly. Sian groaned in reply trying to hide her face even more.

‘Are they good dreams at least?’ Minseok asked after a few moments of silence and Sian cleared her throat before she timidly shook her head no. ‘Oh’ Minseok sighed heavily ‘well at least that explains a lot’ he half-joked and Sian looked up at him.

‘It’s complicated’ she tried

‘It always is, isn’t it?’ Minseok half-smiled trying to lighten the mood a little but Sian felt it was finally time to come clean about the whole story. She pushed herself up on the matrass sitting on both her knees towards Minseok who was still lying back now looking at her in confusion. She took a deep breath before starting her confession.

She told him everything about when the dreams had started and how they had influenced her actions throughout the time they knew each other and how that had been the exact reason that she had cancelled their date for the wedding. By the end of it the frown on Minseok’s face had gotten impossibly deeper and Sian felt a wave of panic wash over her. He hadn’t said a word at all while she was talking, just staring at her.

‘I know it’s hard to believe and I swear it’s not to make up excuses for my behaviour. I know I was wrong to cancel our date for the wedding and you have every right to hate me’ she finished and looked at the man in panic. The frown had disappeared from his face and a warm smile had taken its place.

‘I believe you, and I don’t hate you. I was just wondering how it all tied in with _my_ dreams.’ Sian’s jaw fell slack. She could barely believe the words coming from the raven-haired man’s mouth.

‘y-your dreams?’ she asked in disbelieve and another warm smile spread across Minseok’s face.

‘Yeah, you’ve been kind of haunting my dreams as much as I seem to be haunting yours. However, it’s different’ he pursed his lips in search for the right words to explain his dreams ‘It’s more like you dream of our past lives and I dream of our future’ he scoffed a little at the ridiculousness of that sentence but didn’t take it back.

‘God, I could kiss you right now’ Sian muttered and immediately covered her mouth with her hand in embarrassment of what she had just uttered but Minseok didn’t seem to be taken aback by it. He even smirked a little.

‘What’s holding you back then?’ he replied and with that Sian almost launched herself forward to put her lips on his. He caught her easily his hands resting lazily on her hips. It started with a few soft pecks but quickly turned into longer languid kisses with more tongue and the occasional lip bite. Neither of them was in a rush to do anything besides kissing. She could still taste the peppermint of his toothpaste on his lips as he turned them over on the mattress so that he was now hovering above her.

The soft musk of his old spice after shave was threatening to overwhelm Sian. Her hands eventually found his hair and tugged lightly eliciting a soft moan from the man. This lightened a desire within Sian she couldn’t ignore and proceeded to pull a little harder. The result was intensely satisfying as Minseok released a deep almost primal grunt and Sian’s confidence was boosted enough to flip the both of them over, so she was sitting in his lap.

She continued to place wet kisses and soft bites along his jawline while grinding down on his crotch. His breath hitched every time their pelvises fully connected until another low grunt erupted from his body and he pressed her into the mattress with both hands above her head.

‘As much as I enjoy this. I am trying, again, not to be an asshole, which means that before any of this is happening’ he emphasised the ‘this’ by kissing along her jawline ‘I will have to take you on a proper date first’. A pout appeared on Sian’s face. She was much too riled up to stop now and go on some stupid date.

‘Let’s do this first and the date later’ she replied lifting her head off the mattress to try and reconnect their lips to win him over, but Minseok wasn’t having any of it as he moved his own frame upwards and moved away from her completely. The pout on Sian’s face grew impossibly bigger making her bottom lip stick out and Minseok chuckled at the sight.

‘We’ll continue this later, that is, if you’re a good girl’ he winked at her, and Sian softly cursed under her breath. That was insanely sexy and very unhelpful to the riled-up state she had found herself in. He merely continued to chuckle and made his way to the other room to get himself dressed.

Once they were both dressed and ready to go Minseok stopped her in her tracks. She turned towards him, confusion clear on her face as she cocked her head a little to the side. Minseok just smiled warmly as he held up a navy-blue handkerchief.

‘I don’t have a cold’ she merely answered and went to turn back around and make her way out of the hotel room but Minseok grabbed her hand and turned her around. Placing the handkerchief over her eyes before tying a knot at the back.

‘It’s wasn’t for your nose silly, it was for your eyes. It’s a surprise where I’m taking you’ she could feel his warm breath on the shell of her ear as he whispered those words to her. A low groan escaped her lips followed by a crimson blush painting her soft cheeks. Minseok knew exactly how to elicit these types of reactions from her which made him highly dangerous.

‘Do you trust me?’ he asked his voice still a mere whisper to her ears

As dangerous as he might be with the power he held over her, she trusted him blindly, almost instinctively and simply nodded her head in reply. At her confirmation Minseok placed one more peck on her lips before leading her to the car he apparently rented for today.

The seat was comfortable, and the leather was already warm as she sat down indicating that the car was probably expensive. She wore a dress for the occasion as Minseok had specified this as a date. The dress was a decent length but rode up her thighs a little as she sat down in the passenger’s seat. Minseok had noticed as well as he had carefully placed a hand on the bit of skin on her upper leg that was showing. She couldn’t see his face but pictured him to be smiling at the action himself especially since Sian released an audible gasp at the touch.

After a short drive they had arrived at their destination but Minseok insisted that Sian kept on her blindfold. Sian could guess from the commotion she was hearing that they were somewhere in the city, in a place that seemed rather popular. It smelled like the street food markets back in Korea and Sian felt like she was back home instantly. This might have been what Minseok meant with getting the full experience. She could even hear some people speak Korean amongst the mostly American conversations.

Something warm was suddenly pressed into Sian’s hands as her hands were folded around a doughy like disk. She lifted the item towards her face to take in its smell and recognised it immediately. It was Hotteok, the sweet pancakes that were sold on every street food market in Korea and often attracted so many people that there were immensely long lines, but the sweet nutty filling in the soft chewy dough was more than worth the wait.

She placed the doughy disk into her mouth and smiled when the warm sweet gooey filling entered her mouth. It felt as if she was back home in Korea again and all the previous anxiety she had felt about being in America vanished with a simple bite. She finally pulled the blindfold off and was greeted with Minseok’s warm smile.

‘You have no idea how happy the smile on your face just now makes me’ he uttered his eyes never leaving her face. And suddenly another blush flushed up to Sian’s face. She hadn’t felt those kinds of butterflies since the first time they had met, and she suddenly decided to hide her shyness by focusing on eating the Hotteok without looking at him again.

Like a brick she was hit hard by the realisation of Minseok’s action. He had taken her here to feel like she was back home again and to make her comfortable without even questioning her anxiety. She felt upcoming tears prick her eyes and she quickly turned away from Minseok, so he wouldn’t see the state she was in. Again, her emotions were taking control and put her in this embarrassing situation.

She softly chewed on the remaining bit of Hotteok, hoping it would give her brain enough distraction to pull itself together when she felt his hands slide around her waist until her back was attached to his chest and he just pulled her even closer. He placed his chin on her shoulder and let out a deep sigh which Sian copied to calm herself as well.

‘It’s okay to feel it all you know’ he hummed placing a soft kiss on her neck making goose bumps rise all over Sian’s skin. She let herself bask in the warmth of his embrace, making sure to actually locate her feelings and possibly dissect them. But their moment was disturbed by Minseok’s phone vibrating and him letting go of her to pick it up. It seemed to be his mother as he answered the phone with it. He turned away from her to continue his conversation in private and somehow it hurt Sian’s feelings that he wasn’t as comfortable to share that with her yet.

He returned within a few minutes but the frown on his face had returned again. This time it was Sian’s turn to comfort him instead of the other way around. She grabbed both his hands and pulled him in for a hug resting her cheek on his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and sighed heavily.

‘Anything I can do to make you feel better?’ Sian muttered against his chest pulling him a little tighter to emphasise the authenticity of her feelings in the request. He sighed again and pushed her away a little, holding her firmly by the shoulders and studying her face. The anxiety Sian had felt before had vanished completely, so she could show him a genuine smile.

 ‘I don’t want to ask this of you’ he simply stated studying her face intently. ‘But my parents left me no choice’. He sighed once more and let go of Sian’s shoulders moving away from her and she quickly followed his steps, so she was walking next to him. They walked in silence for a while until Sian found the courage to grab his hand. She slipped her hand comfortably into his looking straight ahead all the time. After a while he finally spoke again.

‘My parents want me to have dinner with them tonight and when I told them I couldn’t because I was with you, they told me to bring you’ he had stopped walking to look at Sian’s face in search for any trace of her anxiety, so he could call off the whole thing without burdening her. Yet, somehow Minseok had managed to make her feel at home in this strange country so she believed that as long as she was with him, nothing could go wrong.

‘Then let’s go’ she stated pulling his hand towards her face to place a soft kiss on his knuckles.

‘Sian, my family and my relationship with them is very complicated. I don’t want you to get mixed up in this mess’ he pleaded a slight hint of desperation layered in his voice, but Sian felt stronger now than she had this morning and was sure that they could get through this together.

‘You can tell me what I need to know in the car, we’re going and that’s final’ she said sternly softly stroking a strand of hair from his face and tucking it behind his ear. The soft gesture was completely the opposite from the words she had just spoken. His catlike eyes looked at her before nodding in confirmation. She grabbed his hand again and they made their way towards the car.

‘Let’s blow your parent’s minds’ Sian smiled mischievously ‘We’re gonna go shopping baby’ she chirped as she got into the passenger’s seat again this time without the blindfold and being able to fully appreciate the view of Minseok driving the expensive car.

On the ride to the mall Minseok told her a little of his family’s history. How Minseok’s brother Minhae had died under mysterious circumstances with a possibility of it being murder but the case suddenly being closed a few weeks in because of 'lack of evidence’. Minseok told her how heartbroken he had been that day, knowing his brother would never get the justice he deserves. He told her that was the day he decided to return to his parent’s company and claim his rightful place. His father had been furious about his return which was when Minseok started to suspect his parents for what happened to his brother. For years he has been collecting small pieces of evidence in secret hoping that one day it would be enough to make sure they got what they deserved.

His father had turned into a bully, stacking insane amounts of work on Minseok and making sure he didn’t spend a lot of time at home. Every relationship Minseok had started had been broken up by his father bullying the man or woman Minseok would take to meet them. It was never good enough and along the process Minseok had given up on finding love ever again, until he started dreaming about Sian and seeing her just a few days after his first dream. He saw her signing a contract with his father for ownership of the coffeeshop and knew it was meant to be.

This was the most Minseok had spoken to her in all the time they had known each other, and the atmosphere was relaxed and open. Both of them felt unafraid to share their deepest and darkest secrets and desires and by the time they both had found proper outfits and were returning to the hotel to get ready, Sian felt confident enough to face his parents during dinner.

Sian had settled on a soft pink full length backless dress that was close fitted at the top with a flowy skirt. Minseok had found a tailor on the high-street that was able to produce a well fitted suit for him to match Sian’s dress in no-time. Little pastel pink details on his grey suit matched them together perfectly.

They looked well together and for a moment Sian let herself bask in the possibility of being by his side for more than just this occasion, but she didn’t want to make herself hope too much. From the stories Minseok had told her, the chances of them working out together were next to nothing especially when meeting his parents, but Minseok had still seemed a little hopeless himself as well. They arrived at a restaurant called Urasawa, Sian had heard the name once before and knew that this was probably one of the most expensive restaurants in Los Angeles. Minseok pulled her apart just before they made their way to the table.

‘I’m really sorry I pulled you into this’ he said playing with her fingers. To be honest the idea of meeting his parents terrified her at first, especially since they hadn’t labelled what they were officially. Was she his girlfriend now? Was that just pretend for his parents? Was she just the girl he dreamed about but doesn’t want to be with? She honestly didn’t know.

‘Don’t be sorry. I’m here for you and I’ll be anything you need me to be tonight’ she replied cupping his face in her slender hands before softly pecking his lips. ‘Breathe, you got this’ she whispered before they made their way to the table where his parents already sat.

He gave his mother a short hug and his father a curt nod before introducing Sian to them.

‘Mother, Father, this is Sian my…’ a silence filled the room for a second and both his parents looked at them with expectations in their eyes

‘Fiancée’

Sian shot him a look of confusion when his parents looked over at each other and Minseok shot a pleading look back. Seeing the desperation in his eyes she decided to play along to his little game.

‘Nice to meet you’ she hesitated and made a small curtsey in greeting before letting Minseok take her to her seat. The tension at the dinner table was intense and Sian could feel her anxiety rise with every second. From the moment they had entered the room Minseok’s father hadn’t taken his eyes of her and it was making her uncomfortable. They had met before but she had no idea why he was staring her down like that.

After being fully interrogated by his father about her Coffee Shop, she excused herself to go to the bathroom. In the stall she tried to calm her own breathing down and not hurl up anything she just ate when her phone buzzed.

 

She would just have to sit this one out for Minseok. He had been there for her through everything she went through the moment she set foot on that plane. He had been thoughtful and caring and acting like her goddamn boyfriend even though they hadn’t discussed any labels yet. She felt a little bad for walking away like that when he needed her most. So she got up from the toilet seat she was sitting on, and flushed it even though she didn’t use it. She fixed her lipstick in the bathroom mirror and made her way back to the table with her head held high. Once she sat down Minseok look at her with that same worry, but she calmed him quickly by laying a hand on his shoulder, showing off a ring she had put on her ring finger.

‘Are you alright babe, you seem a bit pale. Maybe the food isn’t agreeing with you’ she inquired in her sweetest voice which seemed to surprise Minseok the most.

‘I’m alright, honey’ he spoke the word with a little hesitation, but it seemed to do the trick as it triggered his mother to ask about them as a couple and how they got engaged. This seemed to provoke some courage in Sian as she made up a complete story about how he had taken her out for dinner on their first year anniversary and how it had been the most amazing day together and he asked her to marry him in a full restaurant and she couldn’t say anything but yes as he had made her the happiest woman on the face of the planet.

Minseok chuckled a little but seemed overall impressed by her story that his parents seemed to buy as well. His mother seemed pleased, but his father’s frown kept growing bigger and bigger.

Overall the dinner was a success for Minseok and Sian which was proven by the hug she was given my Minseok’s mother. ‘Don’t be a stranger’ the mother muttered in her ear before she let go of her tiny frame. Sian simply smiled and nodded returning to Minseok’s side to officially thank his father for the dinner and saying that she hopes their business together won’t be damaged by her dating his son.

Once they had left the building both Minseok and Sian released a relieving sigh which made them both laugh loudly into the silent night.

‘I can’t believe they actually bought that story on our engagement’ Minseok marvelled locking their hands together while walking.

‘What do you mean bought it?’ Sian feigned innocence but couldn’t keep her composure for long as a laugh waved through her.

‘It actually happened though, just not to me’ she finally explained adding ‘my mom’ to it for the full explanation. They were far away from the restaurant now but Minseok was still holding on to her hand tightly and Sian didn’t mind one bit. As a matter of fact, playing his fiancée had felt so real that she didn’t really want it to end. It had finally caught up with her how much she actually wanted to be his one and only. She only just realised that she had fallen for this man and she had fallen hard. Her cheeks were burning from smiling so much but she didn’t want it to stop. She didn’t want this night to end.

Looming in the back was of course the realisation that their ‘relationship’ had just been a show they had put up for his parents. Maybe it had been his plan all along, to comfort her and woo her so she would say yes to the dinner. But the smiling, the kisses and the fact that he went out of his way to take her to Korea town just to eat Hotteok made her doubt her own doubts again. It was a continuous battle inside her mind.

When they arrived at the car again, Minseok stopped them in their tracks.

‘As promised, I will make dealing with my parents up to you, but it’s a surprise so…’ he pulled out the blue handkerchief from his pocket again and Sian turned around, so he could tie it around her face.

‘I’d think you have a blindfolding kink Mr. Kim’ Sian joked the mischief audible in her voice.

‘Oh well, maybe I do’ he whispered in her ear seductively and gave her hip a little squeeze before opening the door, which made Sian let out an embarrassingly loud moan before hiding her face in her hands and getting in the seat, just hearing Minseok faint chuckle as he closed the door behind her.

The drive this time was longer, indicating that the location they were headed towards was planned in advance. It was already dark outside so Sian really didn’t see the whole point in the blindfold but if it kept Minseok happy, it was the least she could do for him after all that he had done for her.

Minseok helped her out of the passenger seat once they arrived at their destination and Sian noticed the quiet immediately. Had they left the city? The drive hadn’t been that long, right? How could a place within the city be so quiet? She could feel Minseok’s hands on her shoulders which made any anxiety she had felt disappear into thin air. It was strange how she could feel so safe around him now when she had rejected him so violently because of those stupid dreams.

She felt the fabric of the handkerchief loosen and disappear from her eyes. A loud gasp left her body as she realised they were standing in front of the Griffith Observatory. She had always been fascinated about stars and the universe. When she was younger her father would take her stargazing in the middle of the night sometimes, much to the chagrin of her mother who didn’t like Sian to stay up late on school nights.

‘W-What are we doing here? Is…Isn’t this supposed to be closed right now?’ Sian sputtered unable to disguise the surprise in her voice.

‘We’re star gazing. I rented this place out. Tomorrow is Veteran’s day which means this will be closed as well so I asked the manager for a favour’ he smiled shyly rubbing the back of his neck.

‘How did you..’ Sian began still very much in awe of the events of tonight.

‘Know?’ Minseok filled in for her ‘The night we arrived your mother called, but you were sleeping so soundly. So I answered it to make sure nothing bad was happening and well, I spend half the night talking to you mom, and she told me stories about you and your dad, and how he would take you star gazing…. So I…’ He didn’t get the chance to finish his sentence has Sian flung herself around his neck and started placing kisses all over his face

‘This is the best gift you’ve ever given me, and I don’t know how to thank you’ She exclaimed between her kisses and as Minseok stepped back to regain his balance they lost momentum completely and tumbled to the ground laughing.

‘I can think of something’ Minseok smirked squeezing her hips to emphasise what he was hinting at. Sian copied his smirk. ‘Not right now, and definitely not in public’ she said lifting herself off of him. Minseok pouted in reply.

‘Later’ she whispered in his ear ‘let’s watch the stars first’ she suggested and Minseok merely nodded lying down next to her in the grass glancing up at the sky full of stars.

As they were lying in the cool grass Minseok turned his body towards her and started speaking. ‘I need you to hear me out okay?’ he stated, and Sian merely nodded not taking her eyes off the events in the sky just yet.

‘I know we didn’t have the best start, and that we both did things we regret terribly, but, I don’t know. Seeing you tell that story to my parents made me want to make it reality. I know we haven’t labelled anything yet and fuck.’ He took a deep breath which hitched a little as he pulled it in before continuing.

‘I know this is so soon. Maybe too soon, but I really like you Sian and I truly believe that we are meant to be together, so I got you something’ He fumbled around in his jacket pocket and pulled out a piece of paper. This had finally made Sian look away from the sky and shift her body as well as her gaze towards Minseok.

He unfolded the piece of paper and handed it to her.

‘I know this is the cheesiest thing but having experienced your anxiety up close made me realise that I really want to protect you, and it makes me anxious knowing that I can’t be there for you around the clock, so I got you this’ he said as he pointed towards the paper.

‘I got you a star, it’s named after you and it is like a constant reminded that wherever we are in the world, be it together or apart, I will always be watching over you.’ Sian suddenly realised that there were tears falling down her cheeks, but she didn’t feel sad at all. As a matter of fact, this might have been the happiest she had felt in a long time. It was like he really understood her completely right now.  

‘I know I shouldn’t have asked you to pretend to be my fiancée out of the blue like that and I wouldn’t have if things had gone the way I planned it to before my parents pushed in this ridiculous dinner’ he frowned a little at the memory of the events at the restaurant. Not only had his parents interrogated Sian about her life and job, they also kept harassing Minseok for not being a good enough son and being the disappointment of the family.

Sian had pulled a stop to it when they started questioning his choices for whomever his girlfriends were. Minseok seemed to have regained his courage after a short loss of momentum and grabbed Sian’s hands in both of his before lowering himself to the ground sitting upright on one knee.

‘Sian, will you do me the honour of actually becoming my wife for real? Not just because I feel like you need me but also because I need you. I need you more than you know’ He tried to continue his speech, but Sian wouldn’t let him. She was already crying, and the answer was already clear in her mind.

‘Yes, Minseok. I would love nothing more’ she said in between kisses. ‘Gosh, we’re just skipping the whole dating part and move straight on to being engaged, I might have to explain that in extensive detail to Baekhyun because I’m sure he’s going to want to kill me when he hears this’ Sian joked, but Minseok swallowed visibly at which Sian continued to calm him down saying it wasn’t as bad as it sounded, just that Baekhyun hadn’t really liked Minseok that much and how he’d be surprised to hear about the engagement before they even got the chance to tell him they were a thing.

‘Now let’s continue where we last left off’ Minseok joked kissing along her jaw, nipping slightly at the skin. Sian giggled at the touch.

‘Not in public you moron, let’s get back to the hotel first’ she hit his shoulder lightly and Minseok feigned pain but laughed a mere second later holding out his hand to lead her back to the car. This was definitely not what Sian had expected from this trip, but she couldn’t say she wasn’t happy for coming along because now she had gotten herself a fiancé and she couldn’t wait to tell her friends the news.

**Author's Note:**

> Dear Readers,
> 
> This is my second chaptered fic. I have a good idea of the basic outline of this story but it is very much a work in progress. So any tips/comments are very welcomed (also words of encouragement are greatly appreciated). I don't know how often I will upload here but I will upload the chapters when I've finished them (just can't promise a schedule).
> 
> I hope you will enjoy this,
> 
> Love,
> 
> Sifra


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